
- saenzorr@southwestern.edu
- 512.863.1905
- Mood-Bridwell 232
Led by dedicated faculty, top-notch career services, and a vibrant campus community, Southwestern University has again earned recognition as one of the top institutions in the country.
more informationProfessor of Communication Studies Bob Bednar led five students deep into the Houston Methodist Hospital system to analyze organizational communication at one of the nation’s leading healthcare systems.
more informationAs perspectives surrounding higher education shift, Southwestern University is doubling down on the impact and value of a liberal arts education.
more informationSince the launch of the Thrive campaign in 2018, the Southwestern community has donated over $160 million to elevate student success, enhance academic excellence, and transform the campus.
more informationIn the true spirit of Paideia, physics and computer science students put their heads together to complete two different research objectives.
more informationLearn more about the legacy of Southwestern University’s first female registrar through a series of letters between Pearl Alma Neas, Lyndon Baines Johnson, and Lady Bird Johnson.
more informationNationwide education services company honors Southwestern University as a 2025 “Best Value College.”
more informationSU recognized as one of the top student-centered undergraduate universities in the nation, anchored by strong career development, business, and education programs.
more informationIncoming students and families had their first chance to experience life at Southwestern during Sprog orientation sessions this summer.
more informationA pair of first-year biochemistry majors designed their own experiment aimed at increasing certain chemical compounds produced by spinach plants using different types of fertilizers.
more informationLed by dedicated faculty, top-notch career services, and a vibrant campus community, Southwestern University has again earned recognition as one of the top institutions in the country.
more informationProfessor of Communication Studies Bob Bednar led five students deep into the Houston Methodist Hospital system to analyze organizational communication at one of the nation’s leading healthcare systems.
more informationAs perspectives surrounding higher education shift, Southwestern University is doubling down on the impact and value of a liberal arts education.
more informationSince the launch of the Thrive campaign in 2018, the Southwestern community has donated over $160 million to elevate student success, enhance academic excellence, and transform the campus.
more informationIn the true spirit of Paideia, physics and computer science students put their heads together to complete two different research objectives.
more informationLearn more about the legacy of Southwestern University’s first female registrar through a series of letters between Pearl Alma Neas, Lyndon Baines Johnson, and Lady Bird Johnson.
more informationNationwide education services company honors Southwestern University as a 2025 “Best Value College.”
more informationSU recognized as one of the top student-centered undergraduate universities in the nation, anchored by strong career development, business, and education programs.
more informationIncoming students and families had their first chance to experience life at Southwestern during Sprog orientation sessions this summer.
more informationA pair of first-year biochemistry majors designed their own experiment aimed at increasing certain chemical compounds produced by spinach plants using different types of fertilizers.
more informationLed by dedicated faculty, top-notch career services, and a vibrant campus community, Southwestern University has again earned recognition as one of the top institutions in the country.
more informationProfessor of Communication Studies Bob Bednar led five students deep into the Houston Methodist Hospital system to analyze organizational communication at one of the nation’s leading healthcare systems.
more informationAs perspectives surrounding higher education shift, Southwestern University is doubling down on the impact and value of a liberal arts education.
more informationSince the launch of the Thrive campaign in 2018, the Southwestern community has donated over $160 million to elevate student success, enhance academic excellence, and transform the campus.
more informationIn the true spirit of Paideia, physics and computer science students put their heads together to complete two different research objectives.
more informationNationwide education services company honors Southwestern University as a 2025 “Best Value College.”
more informationSU recognized as one of the top student-centered undergraduate universities in the nation, anchored by strong career development, business, and education programs.
more informationIncoming students and families had their first chance to experience life at Southwestern during Sprog orientation sessions this summer.
more informationA pair of first-year biochemistry majors designed their own experiment aimed at increasing certain chemical compounds produced by spinach plants using different types of fertilizers.
more informationTrustee Brent Austin has encouraged the Southwestern community to match his $500,000 gift and push the University closer to reaching its fundraising goal for the new facility.
more informationLed by dedicated faculty, top-notch career services, and a vibrant campus community, Southwestern University has again earned recognition as one of the top institutions in the country.
more informationProfessor of Communication Studies Bob Bednar led five students deep into the Houston Methodist Hospital system to analyze organizational communication at one of the nation’s leading healthcare systems.
more informationAs perspectives surrounding higher education shift, Southwestern University is doubling down on the impact and value of a liberal arts education.
more informationSince the launch of the Thrive campaign in 2018, the Southwestern community has donated over $160 million to elevate student success, enhance academic excellence, and transform the campus.
more informationIn the true spirit of Paideia, physics and computer science students put their heads together to complete two different research objectives.
more informationLearn more about the legacy of Southwestern University’s first female registrar through a series of letters between Pearl Alma Neas, Lyndon Baines Johnson, and Lady Bird Johnson.
more informationNationwide education services company honors Southwestern University as a 2025 “Best Value College.”
more informationSU recognized as one of the top student-centered undergraduate universities in the nation, anchored by strong career development, business, and education programs.
more informationIncoming students and families had their first chance to experience life at Southwestern during Sprog orientation sessions this summer.
more informationA pair of first-year biochemistry majors designed their own experiment aimed at increasing certain chemical compounds produced by spinach plants using different types of fertilizers.
more informationLed by dedicated faculty, top-notch career services, and a vibrant campus community, Southwestern University has again earned recognition as one of the top institutions in the country.
more informationProfessor of Communication Studies Bob Bednar led five students deep into the Houston Methodist Hospital system to analyze organizational communication at one of the nation’s leading healthcare systems.
more informationAs perspectives surrounding higher education shift, Southwestern University is doubling down on the impact and value of a liberal arts education.
more informationSince the launch of the Thrive campaign in 2018, the Southwestern community has donated over $160 million to elevate student success, enhance academic excellence, and transform the campus.
more informationIn the true spirit of Paideia, physics and computer science students put their heads together to complete two different research objectives.
more informationLearn more about the legacy of Southwestern University’s first female registrar through a series of letters between Pearl Alma Neas, Lyndon Baines Johnson, and Lady Bird Johnson.
more informationNationwide education services company honors Southwestern University as a 2025 “Best Value College.”
more informationSU recognized as one of the top student-centered undergraduate universities in the nation, anchored by strong career development, business, and education programs.
more informationTrustee Brent Austin has encouraged the Southwestern community to match his $500,000 gift and push the University closer to reaching its fundraising goal for the new facility.
more informationBy embracing the support system on campus and the resources available through Southwestern’s liberal arts education, first-generation student Fernando Cruz-Rivera ’26 has put himself on track to a successful career in government.
more informationAssistant Professor of Education Raquel Sáenz Ortiz and SU alumna Rebecca Ramirez ’24 published an article titled “An undue burden: The impact of censorship laws on Ethnic Studies teachers in Texas” in the Ethnic Studies Pedagogies Journal. This article analyzes conversations and surveys with middle and high school ethnic studies teachers in Texas about the impact of censorship legislation (Senate Bill 3, passed in 2021) on their teaching.
—June 2025Assistant Professor of Education Raquel Sáenz Ortiz and SU alumnae Rebecca Ramirez ’24 and Laura Carrasco Torres ’25 published an article titled “Centering community in fugitive pedagogy: Pláticas with Chicana Ethnic Studies teachers” in Chicana/Latina Studies: The Journal of Mujeres Activas en Letras y Cambio Social. This article analyzes the impact of censorship legislation (Senate Bill 3, passed in 2021) on middle and high school Mexican American Studies teachers.
Assistant Professor of Education Raquel Sáenz Ortiz published the manuscript “Solidarity in labor organizing: The alliance between the Black Panther Party and the United Farm Workers,” in the Black History Bulletin (BHB), volume 87, issue 2. The manuscript examines the collaborations between the Black Panther Party and the United Farm Workers in the 1960s and 1970s and includes a project-based lesson on solidarity in labor organizing for a high school U.S. History course. This manuscript is part of a special issue on African Americans and Labor.
Assistant Professor of Education Raquel Sáenz Ortiz attended the International Migration Research Network (IMISCOE) annual conference in Lisbon, Portugal in July. She presented, with Melina Bountris ’22, “Culturally responsive instructional strategies for immigrant-origin youth in Austria,” based on research conducted while Melina was completing a Fulbright Teaching Assistantship in Austria. She also presented, with Zehra Çolak of Utrecht University, “Co-constructing a pedagogy of radical belonging: Pláticas on teaching for social justice,” which is based on a chapter that has been accepted to be published in the Handbook of Social Justice in Education. In addition, Dr. Sáenz Ortiz co-led a workshop, titled “Towards decolonial futurities: On reimagining the university,” along with Zehra Çolak of Utrecht University, Zakia Essanhaji of VU Amsterdam, Dounia Bourabain of Hasselt University, and Leila Mouhib of Université libre de Bruxelles and Université de Mons.
—September 2024Assistant Professor of Education Raquel Sáenz Ortiz published the manuscript “Radical Love: Liberatory Pedagogical Praxis for Black and Latinx Youth in an Alternative School,” in the International Journal of Learner Diversity and Identities. The manuscript highlights a case study conducted by Dr. Sáenz Ortiz in an alternative school in the northeastern United States where most students were Afro-Caribbean. The article is available here.