Arturo Cortez

Arturo Cortez, Ph.D. is a Visiting Assistant Professor at the University of California, Davis. As a learning scientist, Dr. Cortez explores how justice- and future-oriented contexts of teaching and learning can support educators and young people to imagine beyond today’s injustices. In particular, he is interested in how intergenerational and transdisciplinary collaboratives speculate new possible futures, mediated by their participation with everyday technologies in gaming contexts, for example. As such, Dr. Cortez designed The Learning to Transform Technologies (LiTT) Lab to study how play-based learning environments encourage educators to engage in more symmetrical relationships with young people, while also developing expansive pedagogical models that center equitable relationship-building and robust collaboration. His work has been published in Reading Research Quarterly (2024), Mind, Culture, and Activity (2023, 2019), Cognition and Instruction (2022), the Journal of Futures Studies (2022), the Association of Mexican American Educators Journal (2020), and the Review of Research in Education (2017). Furthermore, his research has been supported by the George Lucas Educational Foundation and the Spencer Foundation.

​Dr. Cortez currently serves as Associate Editor of Mind, Culture, and Activity, the premier journal in sociocultural and cultural historical approaches to education and learning. He is also the Program Co-Chair for the 2025 International Conference of the Learning Sciences. Recently, Dr. Cortez was recognized as an honorable mention for the 2024 Jan Hawkins Award for Early Career Contributions to Humanistic Research and Scholarship in Learning Technologies (AERA Division C).

For the 2024-2025 academic year, Dr. Cortez will be a National Academy of Education/Spencer Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow. ​Dr. Cortez, a former public school educator, holds a Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley. 

Areas of Specialization

learning sciences, teacher learning, everyday technologies, video game-based learning, artificial intelligence, worldmaking, sociocultural learning, cultural-historical activity theory, social design-based experiments, social interaction analysis, video analysis

Educational Background

2019: University of California, Berkeley, Ph.D. in Education, Graduate School of Education Dissertation: Co-designing Transformative Teacher Learning Ecologies

2014-2016: American Conservatory Theater (Studio), enrolled in courses

2008: Harvard University, Ed.M. in Education Policy and Management, Graduate School of Education

2007: University of San Francisco, M.A. in Teaching, Center for Teaching Excellence and Social Justice, School of Education

2002: University of Pennsylvania, B.A. in Biological Basis of Behavior

Academic Appointments

2024-Present: Visiting Assistant Professor, School of Education, University of California, Davis

2020-Present: Faculty Director, The Learning to Transform Technologies (LiTT) Lab

2020-2024: Assistant Professor of Learning Sciences & Human Development, School of Education, University of Colorado Boulder

2019-2022: Assistant Professor of Teacher Learning, Research & Practice, School of Education, University of Colorado Boulder

2024: Faculty Affiliate, Department of Information Science, College of Media, Communication and Information, University of Colorado Boulder

2022-2024: Faculty Affiliate, LGBTQ Studies, College of Arts and Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder

2021-2024: Fellow, Institute of Cognitive Science, University of Colorado Boulder

2020-2024: Faculty Affiliate, Engineering Education and AI-Augmented Learning, College of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Colorado Boulder

K-12 Experience

2010-2011: Middle School Cross-Country Coach, San Francisco Friends School, San Francisco, CA

2010: Algebra Teacher, Carlmont High School, Belmont, CA

2009: Digital Storytelling Teacher, Saint Martin de Porres, Oakland CA

2004-2006: Biology and Spanish Teacher, Cross-cultural Environmental Leadership Academy, San Francisco, CA

2002-2004: Sixth Grade Teacher (All Subjects), Willow Oaks Schools, East Palo Alto, CA

2002: Seventh Grade Math, Arturo Toscanini School: P.S. 216, New York, NY

Research Grants – External

2024: Cortez, A. (PI). “Building new social futures in video game play: Co-designing pedagogical prototypes for imagining beyond inequity.” National Academy of Education (NAEd) / The Spencer Foundation. End Date: October 2025. (Amount: $70,000).

2023: Cortez, A. (PI). “Modding new social futures in virtual and everyday worlds: Co-designing speculative pedagogies in videogame play.” National Academy of Education (NAEd) / The Spencer Foundation Postdoctoral Research Development Award. End Date: July 2024. (Amount: $5,000).

2021: Cortez, A. (PI). “Designing equity-centered learning and teacher development at the intersections of formal and informal ecologies.” Lucas Education Research: Equity-Centered Learning Environments Collaboratory. End Date: August 2024. (Amount: $200,000).

2020: Cortez, A. (Senior Personnel). “Institute for student-AI teaming.” National Science Foundation Artificial Intelligence Research Institute. D’Mello, S. (PI). End Date: August 2024. (Total Project Funding: $20,000,000; School of Education Allocation: $3,057,585).

2020: Cortez, A. (PI). “Designing a distributed and intergenerational learning collective.” The Spencer Foundation. End Date: September 2021. (Amount: $15,000).

Research Grants – Internal

2021: Cortez, A. (PI). “Co-designing interdisciplinary and intergenerational learning with undergraduates, high school students, and in-service teachers.” CU Boulder Women Investing in School of Education Grant. End Date: May 2022. (Amount: $8,000) 

2021: Cortez, A. (PI). “Creating partnerships with high school gamers and undergraduates.” CU Boulder Office for Outreach and Engagement Community Impact Grants. End Date: August 2022. (Amount: $5,000).

2021: Cortez, A. (PI). “From players to hackers: Creating robust learning ecologies that privilege video-game play, socio-political critique, and techno-structural analysis.” CU Boulder Place-based Partnership Seed Grant. End Date: August 2022. (Amount: $21,206).

2014: Cortez, A. (PI). “Designing a doctoral seminar: (Re)presenting humanity at the margins.” UC Berkeley Digital Humanities Course Development Grant. End Date: December 2014. (Amount: $63,000).

2013: Cortez, A. (equal w/ PI McClung, N.). “Xochitl Justice Press: Children’s book publishing.” Engage San Francisco: Community Engagement Grant. End Date: August 2014. (Amount: $4,000).

2012: Cortez, A. “African American Shakespeare Theater curriculum design project.” Engage San Francisco: Community Engagement Grant. End Date: August 2013. (Amount: $4,000).

2012: Cortez, A. (equal w/ PI McClung, N.). “Anti-oppressive book project.” University of San Francisco Jesuit Foundation Grant. End Date: August 2013. (Amount: $5,000).

Non-Competitive Funding

2022: Cortez, A. (Co-PI). “Toward expansive computing ecologies: Increasing participation of women undergraduates in computing research.” CU Foundation, College of Engineering and Applied Science Gift Fund. Shapiro, B. (PI). End Date: December 2022. (Amount: $4,500).

2022: Cortez, A. (Co-PI). “Creative learning with computing: Developing speculative pedagogies in video gaming ecologies.” CU Foundation, College of Engineering and Applied Science Gift Fund. Shapiro, B. (PI). End Date: December 2022. (Amount: $30,714).

2021: Cortez, A. (Senior Personnel). “Constructing modern and inclusive trajectories for computer science learning.” National Science Foundation. Shapiro, B. (PI). End Date: December 2021. (Amount for project on “Online networks of participation in gaming ecologies”: $15,477). 

2021: Cortez, A. (PI). “Social annotation to support intergenerational learning.” Re-Generating Cultural Historical Activity Theory Fund. End Date: August 2021. (Amount: $1,000).

Fellowships

2024: National Academy of Education (NAEd) / Spencer Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship

2023: National Academy of Education (NAEd) / Spencer Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship, Semi-finalist

2018: Inaugural Fellow, California Teacher Education Research and Improvement Network

2015-2017: Connected Learning Research Network Fellow

2015-2017: Digital Humanities Fellowship, University of California, Berkeley

2014: Dean’s Normative Time Fellowship, University of California, Berkeley

2013: Anna Deavere Smith Projects: Empathy and Acting Fellowship

2012: Distinguished Graduate Fellowship, University of California, Berkeley

2011: Office of the President Mentored Research Fellowship, University of California

2010-2012: University of California Summer Grant Fellowship

2009-2011: University Fellowship, University of California, Berkeley

2009: Summer Graduate Fellow, Education Pioneers

Awards

2024: Jan Hawkins Award for Early Career Contributions to Humanistic Research and Scholarship in Learning Technologies (AERA Division C), Honorable Mention

2023: The Webby Award (International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences), Nominee for Best Social Media

2022: The Webby Award (International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences), Best Social Media Awardee

2020: Young Scientist Award, The First International Symposium of Cultural-Historical Psychology

2017: Foundations for Change: Thomas I. Yamashita Prize

2016: University of California, Berkeley Outstanding Graduate Student Instructor Award

2015: Chancellor’s Award for Public Service: Civic Engagement, University of California Berkeley

Publications in Refereed Journals

* An asterisk indicates student co-authors

Cortez, A., Lizárraga, J.R., & Rivero, E. (2024). AlgoRitmo literacies in gaming: Leveraging ChicanX praxis to reimagine AI systems. Reading Research Quarterly, 59(4), 609-623. https://doi.org/10.1002/RRQ.539

D’Mello, S. K., Biddy, Q., Breideband, T., Bush, J., Chang, M., Cortez, A., Flanigan, J., Foltz, P. W., Gorman, J. C., Hirshfield, L., Ko, M. M., Krishnaswamy, N., Lieber, R., Martin, J., Palmer, M., Penuel, W. R., Philip, T., Putambekar, S., Pustejovsky, J., Reitman, J. G., Sumner, T., Tissenbaum, M., Walker, L., & Whitehill, J. (2024). From learning optimization to learner flourishing: Reimagining AI in education at the Institute for Student-AI Teaming (iSAT). AI Magazine, 45(1), 61–68. https://doi.org/10.1002/aaai.12158

Mawasi, A., Penuel, W. R., Cortez, A., & McKoy, A. (2023). “They were learning from us as we were learning from them”: Perceived experiences in co-design process. Mind, Culture, and Activity, 30(3-4), 191-208. https://doi.org/10.1080/10749039.2023.2246039

Cortez, A., Lizárraga, J. R., & Castro, A. (2023). Interrogating the notion of giving voice: Designing for polyphony across game-based learning ecologies. Mind, Culture, and Activity. https://doi.org/10.1080/10749039.2023.2238700

McKoy, A., & Cortez, A. (2022). Contending with nightmares and dreams: Designing liberatory Black futures through Lovecraft Country’s speculative counterstorytelling. Supernatural Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Art, Media, and Culture, 7(2), 35-57. https://www.supernaturalstudies.com/previous-journal-issues/vol-7-issue-2/mckoy-an d-cortez

Cortez, A., McKoy, A., & Lizárraga, J. R. (2022). The future of young Blacktivism: Aesthetics and practices of speculative activism in video game play. The Journal of Futures Studies, 26(3), 53-70. https://doi.org/10.6531/JFS.202203_26(3).0005

Philip, T. M., Pham, J., Scott, M., & Cortez, A. (2022). Intentionally addressing nested systems of power in schooling through teacher solidarity co-design. Cognition and Instruction, 40(1), 55-76. https://doi.org/10.1080/07370008.2021.2010208

Lizárraga, J. R., & Cortez, A. (2020). Cyborg jotería pedagogies: Latinx drag queens leveraging communication ecologies in the age of the digital and social displacement. Association of Mexican American Educators Journal, 14(2), 44-66. https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.14.2.358

Gutiérrez, K. D., Becker, B. (co-equal first authors), Espinoza, M., Cortes, K., Cortez, A., Lizárraga, J. R., Rivero, E., Villegas, K., & Yin, P. (co-equal third authors). (2019). Youth as historical actors in the production of possible futures. Mind, Culture, and Activity, 26(4), 291-308. https://doi.org/10.1080/10749039.2019.1652327

Gutiérrez, K. D., Cortes, K., Cortez, A., DiGiacomo, D., Higgs, J., Johnson, P., Lizárraga, J. R., Mendoza, E., Tien, J., & Vakil, S. (co-equal second authors). (2017). Replacing representation with imagination: Finding ingenuity in everyday practices. Review of Research in Education, 41(1), 30-60. https://doi.org/10.3102/0091732X16687523

Chapters in Edited Volumes

* An asterisk indicates student co-authors

Cortez, A., McKoy, A.*, & Lizárraga, J. R. (accepted). The playful aesthetics and practices of speculative Black activism. In T. M. Russworm & S. Murray (Eds.), Antiracist futures: Race, play, and the speculative imagination. Durham, NC: Duke University Press. **Modified invited reprint of Cortez, A., McKoy, A.*, & Lizárraga, J. R. (2022). The future of young Blacktivism: Aesthetics and practices of speculative activism in video game play. The Journal of Futures Studies, 26(3), 53-70.

Lizárraga, J. R., Cortez, A., & Baca, K.* (accepted). Transforming narratives across digital platforms: Examining technological ecologies as a site of emergent political identities and literacies for pre-service teachers. In T. P. Nichols & A. Garcia (Eds.), Literacies in the platform society: Histories, pedagogies, possibilities. New York, NY: Routledge.

Cortez, A., & Lizárraga, J. R. (2023). Speculative pedagogies in video gameplay: Designing for new social futures in collaborative worldmaking. In A. Garcia & N. Mirra (Eds.), Speculative pedagogies: Designing equitable educational futures (pp. 51-66). New York, NY: Teachers College Press.

Cortez, A., & Gutiérrez, K. D. (2019). Socio-spatial repertoires as tools for resistance and expansive literacies. In M. P. Pacheco & P. Z. Morales (Eds.), Transforming schooling for second language learners: Policies, pedagogies, and practices (pp. 123-142). Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing, Inc.

Lizárraga, J. R., & Cortez, A. (2019). #gentrification, cultural erasure, and the (im)possibilities of digital queer gestures. In A. DeKosnik, K. Feldman (Eds.), #identity: Hashtagging race, gender, sex, and nation (pp. 152-164). Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.

Encyclopedia Entries

Rivero, E., & Cortez, A. (under review). Gaming literacies. In C. A. Chappelle, W. S. E. Lam, & R. Darvin, Encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics (2nd Edition). Oxford, England: Wiley-Blackwell.

Cortez, A., & Lizárraga, J. R. (2021). Jotería Studies. In K. K. Strunk & S. A. Shelton (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Queer Studies in Education (pp. 320-323). Leiden, The Netherlands: Koninklijke Brill NV.

Peer-Reviewed Conference Proceedings

* An asterisk indicates student co-authors

Chang, M., Wong, R., Breideband, T., Philip, T. M., McKoy, A.*, Cortez, A., D’Mello, S. (2024). Co-design partners as transformative learners: Imagining ideal technology for schools by centering speculative relationships. 2024 CHI Conference on Human-Computer Interaction (CHI ‘24). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA.

Ko, M., Cortez, A., McKoy, A.*, & Penuel, W. R. (2023). Curriculum as seed: Designing and supporting the use of open education resources to promote teacher agency and innovation. In P. Blikstein, J. Van Aalst, R. Kizito, & K. Brennan (Eds.), Proceedings of the 17th International Conference of the Learning Sciences – ICLS 2023 (pp. 1014-1017). Montreal, Canada: International Society of the Learning Sciences. https://doi.org/10.22318/icls2023.100993

Hladik, S., Vossoughi, S., Roque, R., Hayden, R., Moreno, C., Lizárraga, J. R., Cortez, A. Baca, K.*, & McKoy, A.*, Trehin, S., Chokshi, A., Sengupta, P., Rahm, J., Touioui, F., Tremblay-Gagnon, D., Jones, S. T., Lee, S. P., Simmons, S., Mallwitz, I., Jiang, M., Butler, M., & Worsley, M. (2022). Examining equity in facilitation of tinkering and making in STEAM: From players to hackers: Intergenerational tinkering with the socio-political in video game play. In C. Chinn, E. Tan, C. Chan, & Y. Kali (Eds.), International collaboration toward educational innovation for all: Overarching research, development, and practices, 16th International Conference of the Learning Sciences (ICLS) 2022, (pp. 1747-1754). Hiroshima, Japan: International Society of the Learning Sciences. 

Mawasi, A., Cortez, A., McKoy, A.*, & Penuel W. R. (2022). “It disrupts power dynamics”: Co-design process as a space for intergenerational learning with distributed expertise. In C. Chinn, E. Tan, C. Chan, & Y. Kali (Eds.), International collaboration toward educational innovation for all: Overarching research, development, and practices, 16th International Conference of the Learning Sciences (ICLS) 2022, (pp. 925-928). Hiroshima, Japan: International Society of the Learning Sciences.

Keifert, D., Gutiérrez, K., Goodwin, M. H., Vossoughi, S., Cekaite, A., Rogoff, B., Cortez, A., & de León, L. (2021). Agency and Affect in dignity affirming learning contexts. In de Vries, E., Hod, Y., & Ahn, J. (Eds.), Reflecting the Past and Embracing the Future, 15th International Conference of the Learning Sciences (ICLS) 2021, (pp. 795-802). Bochum, Germany: International Society of the Learning Sciences.

Davis, N., Hooper, P., Echevarria, R., Muñoz, A., Vossoughi, S., Cortez, A., Meixi, Pham, J., Scott, M., Sengupta-Irving, T., Tunney, J., & Macias, M. (2020). Taking on the task of reimagining teacher education: Positioning teachers as emergent learning scientists within complex political and ethical ecologies. In Gresalfi, M. and Horn, I. S. (Eds.), The Interdisciplinarity of the Learning Sciences, 14th International Conference of the Learning Sciences (ICLS) 2020, Volume 4 (pp. 2191-2198). Nashville, Tennessee: International Society of the Learning Sciences.

Uttamchandani, S., Shrodes, A., Lizarraga, J., Cortez, A., Paré, D., Shanahan, M., Sengupta, P., Bang, M., & Hoadley, C. (2020). Attending to gender and sexuality in learning: Lessons from scholarship by, for, and with LGBTQ+ People. In Gresalfi, M. and Horn, I. S. (Eds.), The Interdisciplinarity of the Learning Sciences, 14th International Conference of the Learning Sciences (ICLS) 2020, Volume 1 (pp. 358-365). Nashville, Tennessee: International Society of the Learning Sciences.

Vossoughi, S., Bang, M., McDaid-Morgan, N., Hooper, P., Berry, A., Papak, A., Booker, A., Collins, C., Marin, A., Halle-Erby, K., Agarwal, P., Meixi, Cortez, A., Nzinga, K., Tayne, K., Davis, N., & Patel, L. (2020). Deepening perceptions of learning: Studying and designing ethical practice with researchers, teachers and learners. In Gresalfi, M. and Horn, I. S. (Eds.), The Interdisciplinarity of the Learning Sciences, 14th International Conference of the Learning Sciences (ICLS) 2020, Volume 1 (pp. 430-437). Nashville, Tennessee: International Society of the Learning Sciences.

Refereed Report

* An asterisk indicates student co-authors

Chang, M. A., Philip, T. M., Cortez, A., McKoy, A.*, Sumner, T., & Penuel, W. R. (2022). Engaging youth in envisioning artificial intelligence in classrooms: Lessons learned. Rapid Community Report Series. Digital Promise and the International Society of the Learning Sciences.

Publications Under Review in Refereed Journals

* An asterisk indicates student co-authors

Cortez, A., Rivero, E., Lizárraga, J. R., Shrodes, A., McKoy, A., & Hunter, A. (under review). Sociopolitical gaming literacies: Developing tactical responses to power through collaborative digital composing. English Teaching: Practice & Critique. 

Lizárraga, J. R., Hull, G. A., & Cortez, A. (under review). “Stop being that nice, please”: Intersections, near misses, and collisions. The Journal of the Learning Sciences.

Manuscripts in Preparation

* An asterisk indicates student co-authors

Cortez, A., Lizárraga, J. R., & Reyes Galvez, M.* Rogue jotería platformization: Digital Latinx drag pedagogy amidst rising anti-drag legislation. Target Journal: International Journal of Qualitative Studies of Education.

Cortez, A. Challenging the monolingual roots of monologic approaches: Leveraging dialogic translingual practices. Target Journal: Teaching and Teacher Education.

Cortez, A. Speculative activism in video game play: Co-designing imaginaries with educators and young people. Target Journal: Games and Culture.

Cortez, A. Magic circles, the pedagogical imagination, and teacher learning: Designing toward the fusion of the everyday and the academic. Target Journal: The Journal of the Learning Sciences.

Cortez, A., Lizárraga, J. R., & Tanksley, T. C. Playful networks of fugitivity and liberation: Abolitionist and speculative cyborg approaches to social media and learning. Target Journal: Theory into Practice.

Rivero, E., & Cortez, A. Designing virtual worlds with sociopolitical imaginations: Supporting youth visions of sustainable futures.

Cortez, A., & Castro, N.* A tribute to George Floyd on Grand Theft Auto V: Online gaming as a site for speculative activism. Target Journal: Cognition and Instruction.

Cortez, A., & Lizárraga, J. R. Literacies of world-making in role playing video games: Black, Brown, and Queer futurity in Grand Theft Auto V. Target Journal: Journal of Literacy Research.

Cortez, A. Cracks in the code: World-making in video gaming ecologies. Target Book Press: Teachers College Press.

McKoy, A.*, & Cortez, A. Dream moves: Fostering equitable discursive futures in a video game-based ecology.

Cortez, A. Designing for interdisciplinary and intergenerational collaboration: Social annotation practices for re-generating cultural historical activity theory. Target Journal: Mind, Culture, and Activity.

Edited Volume

Cortez, A., & Lizárraga, J. R. (Volume Eds.) (under contract). Language, Literacy, Youth & Culture (Volume 6 of The Encyclopedia of Social Justice in Education). London, England: Bloomsbury Publishers.

Report

Penuel, W. R., & Cortez, A. (2021, January 10). National Science Foundation Artificial Intelligence Research Institute Retreat Report. University of Colorado Boulder.

Non-Refereed Articles

* An asterisk indicates student co-authors

Kirshner, B., Salazar-Nuñez, B.*, Cortez, A., & Hipolito-Delgadgo, C. (2021, October 11). Students learned so much more during the pandemic than we realize. Just ask them. EdSurge. Retrieved from: https://www.edsurge.com/news/2021-10-08-students-learned-so-much-more-during the-pandemic-than-we-realize-just-ask-them

Cortez, A., Lizárraga, J. R., Jurow, A. S., Kirshner, B., Mendoza, E., Paguyo, C., Penuel, W. R., Shea, M., Schultz, K., Stamatis, K., & Tayne, K. (2020, November 18). ‘Dear Professor’: On anti-Blackness and learning. Inside Higher Education. Retrieved from: https://www.insidehighered.com/views/2020/11/18/group-non-black-scholars-invite s-other-professors-help-strengthen-teaching-support

Editorials in Refereed Journals

Adams-Wiggins, K., Bal, A., Choudry, S., Cortez, A., Ferholt, B., Guarrasi, I., Jornet, A., Lemos, M., Mahmood, M. W., Nardi, B, Rajala, A., Stetsenko, A., & Williams, J. (2023). Creative spaces in and beyond education. Mind, Culture, And Activity, 30(3-4), 189-190.

Jornet, A., Adams-Wiggins, K., Bal, A., Choudry, S., Cortez, A., Ferholt, B., Guarrasi, I., Lemos, M., Mahmood, M. W., Nardi, B, Rajala, A., Stetsenko, A., & Williams, J. (2023). Symposium on transactional perspectives and current research in mind, culture, and activity. Mind, Culture, And Activity, 30(2), 97-100.

Adams-Wiggins, K., Bal, A., Choudry, S., Cortez, A., Ferholt, B., Guarrasi, I., Jornet, A., Lemos, M., Mahmood, M. W., Nardi, B, Rajala, A., Stetsenko, A., & Williams, J. (2023). Editorial vol. 30 issue 1. Mind, Culture, And Activity, 30(1), 1-4.

Adams-Wiggins, K., Choudry, S., Cortez, A., Ferholt, B., Guarrasi, I., Jornet, A., Lemos, M., Mahmood, M. W., Nardi, B, Rajala, A., Stetsenko, A., & Williams, J. (2022). Editorial: Unpacking “signs of learning” in complex sociopolitical environments. Mind, Culture, And Activity, 29(4), 293-294.

Adams-Wiggins, K., Choudry, S., Cortez, A., Ferholt, B., Guarrasi, I., Jornet, A., Lemos, M., Mahmood, M. W., Nardi, B, Rajala, A., Stetsenko, A., & Williams, J. (2022). Editorial: At the intersection of multiple research fields. Mind, Culture, And Activity, 29(3), 187-190.

Adams-Wiggins, K., Choudry, S., Cortez, A., Ferholt, B., Guarrasi, I., Jornet, A., Lemos, M., Mahmood, M. W., Nardi, B, Rajala, A., Stetsenko, A., & Williams, J. (2022). Editorial: A breadth of approaches to mind, culture and activity. Mind, Culture, And Activity, 29(2), 105-107. 

Choudry, S., Cortez, A., Ferholt, B., Guarrasi, I., Jornet, A., Lemos, M., Mahmood, M. W., Nardi, B, Rajala, A., Stetsenko, A., & Williams, J. (2022). Editorial: No to war. Mind, Culture, and Activity, 29(1), 1-4.

Choudry, S., Cortez, A., Ferholt, B., Guarrasi, I., Jornet, A., Mahmood, M. W., Lemos, M., Nardi, B, Rajala, A., Stetsenko, A., & Williams, J. (2021). Editorial: Scholarship and research in crisis contexts. Mind, Culture, and Activity, 28(3), 195-199.

Cortez, A., Choudry, S., Esteban-Guitart, M., Ferholt, B., Guarrasi, I., Jornet, A., Lemos, M., Mahmood, M. W., Nardi, B, Rajala, A., Stetsenko, A., & Williams, J. (2021). Special Issue on “Advancing funds of identity”. Mind, Culture, and Activity, 28(2), 93-96.

Refereed Presentations, Papers, & Posters

* An asterisk indicates student co-authors

☨ Indicates that it was co-authored with community partner(s)

Cortez, A., Lizárraga, J. R., & Rivero, E. (2024). AlgoRitmo literacies in gaming: Leveraging Chicanx praxis to reimagine AI systems. Paper presented at the Literacy Research Association Annual Meeting, Atlanta, GA. 

Cortez, A. (2024). “Cracks in the code”: Developing abolitionist practices in video gaming communities. Paper presented at the AERA Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, PA.

Cortez, A. (2024). Modding new social futures in virtual and everyday worlds: Co-designing speculative pedagogies in videogame play. Poster presented at the AERA Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, PA. 

Cortez, A., & Lizárraga, J. R. (2024). Speculative pedagogies in video gameplay: Designing for new social futures in collaborative worldmaking. Poster presented at the AERA Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, PA. 

Cortez, A., Lizárraga, J. R., & Rivero, E. (2024). AlgoRitmo literacies in gaming: Leveraging Chicanx praxis to reimagine AI systems. Paper presented at the AERA Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, PA.

☨ Cortez, A., Lizárraga, J. R., Rivero, E., Hunter, A.*, McKoy, A.*, Amouzou, G., Cortez-Vargas, J.*, Echevarria-Rios, H., Herrera, I., Reyes Galvez, M., & Perkins, S.* (2024). Hacking new social futures: Speculative dream sprints as sites for futurecasting. Poster presented at the AERA Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, PA. 

Rivero, E., & Cortez, A. (2024). Social dreaming with racialized youth: Co-designing abolitionist technologies in virtual worlds. Paper presented at the AERA Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, PA. 

Rivero, E., Morales, M., Cortez, A., Vossoughi, S., Hooper, P. K., James-Harris, T. (2024). Attuning to indicators of equity: Developing axiological commitments across research partnerships. Paper presented at the AERA Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, PA.

Ko, M., Cortez, A., McKoy, A.*, & Penuel, W. R. (2023). Curriculum as seed: Designing and supporting the use of open education resources to promote teacher agency and innovation. 17th International Conference of the Learning Sciences (ICLS) 2023. Montreal, Canada: International Society of the Learning Sciences. 

Cortez, A., & Lizárraga, J. R. (2023). Speculative pedagogies in video gameplay: Designing for proleptic relationality in collaborative world-making. Paper presented at the AERA Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL. 

Hunter, A.*, Tanksley, T., & Cortez, A. (2023). Cultivating a homeplace where healing is prioritized in gameplay. Paper presented at the AERA Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL. 

Cortez, A., Rivero, E., Shrodes, A., McKoy, A.*, & Hunter, A.* (2023). Gaming everyday dilemmas: Learning critical literacies through collaborative composing on video game play. Paper presented at the AERA Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL. 

McKoy, A.*, Cortez, A., & Tanksley, T. (2023). Dream moves: Fostering equitable discursive futures in a video game-based ecology. Paper presented at the AERA Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL.

Lizárraga, J. R., Cortez, A., & Baca, K.* (2022). Transforming narratives across digital platforms: Examining technological ecologies as a site of emergent political identities and literacies for pre-service teachers. Paper presented at the Literacy Research Association’s 72nd Annual Conference, Phoenix, Arizona. 

Choudry, S., Cortez, A., Ferholt, B., Guarrasi, I., Jornet, A., Mahmood, M. W., Lemos, M., Nardi, B, Rajala, A., Stetsenko, A., & Williams, J. (2022). Collective, participatory platforms to support activist scholarship: A dialogue and call to action. Paper presented at the The 9th Nordic-Baltic ISCAR 2022 Conference, Helsinki, Finland. 

Mawasi, A., Cortez, A., McKoy, A.*, & Penuel W. R. (2022). “It disrupts power dynamics”: Co-design process as a space for intergenerational learning with distributed expertise. 16th International Conference of the Learning Sciences (ICLS) 2022, Hiroshima, Japan. 

Cortez, A., Baca, K.*, & McKoy, A.* (2022). From players to hackers: Creating robust learning ecologies that privilege video-game play, socio-political critique, and techno-structural Analysis. 16th International Conference of the Learning Sciences (ICLS) 2022, Hiroshima, Japan. 

Cortez, A., Davis, N., & Hooper, P. (2022, April 21). Designing for epistemic heterogeneity and communal autonomy: Toward the political and ethical in teacher learning. Paper presented at the AERA Annual Meeting San Diego, CA. 

Cortez, A. (2022, April 21). Co-designing teacher learning ecologies toward the development of new pedagogical imaginations. Paper presented at the AERA Annual Meeting San Diego, CA. 

Cortez, A. (2022, April 21). A tribute to George Floyd on Grand Theft Auto V: Online gaming as a site for speculative activism. AERA Annual Meeting San Diego, CA. 

Cortez, A., & Lizárraga, J. R. (2022, April 21). Gaming places as maker spaces: Designed mediated praxis in times of crisis. AERA Annual Meeting San Diego, CA. 

Lizárraga, J. R., Cortez, A. (2022, April 21). Cyborg speculative fabulation: Youth transmedia practice As world-making. AERA Annual Meeting San Diego, CA.

Cortez, A., & de León, L. (2021, June 8). Agency, affect, and morality in virtual spaces of nondominant youth: Nuevas expresiones de amor y empatía. Invited presentation at the International Conference of the Learning Sciences. Bochum, Germany. 

Kirshner, B., Salazar-Nuñez, B.*, Cortez, A., & Hipolito-Delgadgo, C. (2021, April 11). Student ingenuity and learning during the pandemic. AERA Annual Meeting Virtual Conference. 

Cortez, A., Lizárraga, J. R., & Castro, A.* (2021, April 11). Interrogating the notion of giving voice: Designing for transformative agency across learning ecologies. AERA Annual Meeting Virtual Conference.

☨ Baca, K.*, Aguirre, C., Bensing, A., Ramirez, M., Cortez, A., & Lizárraga, J. R. (2021, April 10). Leveraging community-building through digital game play in order to foster healing. AERA Annual Meeting Virtual Conference. 

☨ Fortes, J., Hironaka, K., Jones, D., Powers, C., Ramirez, M., Salazar-Nuñez, B.*, Cortez, A., & Lizárraga, J.R. (2021, April 20). Recessing school: Bridging play, joy, and learning for liberation. AERA Annual Meeting Virtual Conference. 

☨ Montalvo, C., Clifton, P., Cortez, A., & Lizárraga, J. R. (2021, April 10). Disrupting firewalls by rewriting the code: Dismantling oppressive social structures through gaming. AERA Annual Meeting Virtual Conference. 

☨ Myles, B., Bulalacao, N.*, Williams, P., Cortez, A., & Lizárraga, J. R. (2021, April 10). Race to discourse: Organizing digital tools to support critical conversations about race. AERA Annual Meeting Virtual Conference.

Cortez, A. (accepted). Transmedia(ted) praxis in the city: Evolving pedagogies of justice across digital and social mediascapes. Paper at the 6th Congress of the International Society for Cultural-Historical Activity Research in Natal, Brazil, August 2020. (Conference Canceled) 

Lizárraga, J. R., & Cortez, A. (accepted). Queens! on Twitter: Dragtivism and the (im)possibilities of queer subversion. [Symposium]. AERA Annual Meeting San Francisco, CA http://tinyurl.com/woa2mb9 (Conference Canceled) 

Lizárraga, J. R. & Cortez, A. (2020, Apr 17 - 21) “Trump would just get sucked into a black hole”: Youthful digital imaginings of new futures [Symposium]. AERA Annual Meeting San Francisco, CA http://tinyurl.com/sf6bkgm (Conference Canceled) 

Cortez, A., Calvert, B.*, Holcomb, L.*, Musaji, S.*, & Zarate, R.* (2020, Apr 17 – 21) Transmedia(ted) praxis in the city: Evolving pedagogies of justice across digital and social mediascapes [Roundtable Session]. AERA Annual Meeting San Francisco, CA http://tinyurl.com/u547fqv (Conference Canceled) 

Cortez, A. (2020, Apr 17 – 21) Leveraging youths’ everyday practices: Toward the ethical and political in a preservice teacher learning ecology [Symposium]. AERA Annual Meeting San Francisco, CA http://tinyurl.com/r4py9lv (Conference Canceled) 

Philip, T. M., Pham, J., Scott, M. & Cortez, A. (2020, Apr 17 – 21) Theorizing the political and ethical dimensions of teacher learning across distinct cases [Structured Poster Session]. AERA Annual Meeting San Francisco, CA http://tinyurl.com/y3b7kn4h (Conference Canceled) 

Cortez, A. (2020). Magic circles, the pedagogical imagination, and teacher learning: Designing toward the fusion of the everyday and the academic. Paper to be presented at CITED in London, England, February 2020. (Conference Canceled)

Cortez, A. (2019, April). Seeing space anew in neoliberal times: Transformative pedagogies and everyday learning in the city. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Education Research Association, Toronto, Canada. 

Gutiérrez, K. D., & Cortez, A. (2019, April). Documenting injustice: Consequential learning in everyday resistance practices. Paper presented in a presidential session at the annual meeting of the American Education Research Association, Toronto, Canada.

Gutiérrez, K. D., Cortez, A., & Flores, E. (2018, April). Challenging the monologic and monolingual roots of dialogic approaches: Leveraging translingual repertoires and sociocritical literacies. Paper presented in a presidential session at the annual meeting of the American Education Research Association, New York, NY. 

Lizarraga, J. R., Cortez, A., Cortes, K., & Gutiérrez, K. D. (2018, April). Expanding Latinx for and by Latinx research: Toward a community of researchers approach. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Education Research Association, New York, NY. 

Rivero, E., Yin, P., Cortez, A., & Gutiérrez, K. D. (2018, April). Transmedia storytelling as a co-mediated process of cultural translation: Rethinking the dynamics between “researcher” and “ researched”. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Education Research Association, New York, NY. 

Gutiérrez, K. D., Cortes, K., Cortez, A., Johnson, P., Lizárraga, J. R., Rivero, E., Villegas, K., Yin, P., & Carrasco, G. (2018, March). The necessity of seeing anew: Dreaming up new possibilities for research with non-dominant communities. Presentation at the annual meeting of the University-Community Links, Berkeley, CA. 

Rivero, E., Villegas, K., Cortez, A., Mendoza, E., & Gutiérrez, K.D. (2017, August). LOPI in online gaming communities. Poster symposium at the Learning by Observing and Pitching In pre-congress session of the International Society of Cultural-historical Activity Theory, Quebec City, Quebec. 

Cortez, A., Rivero, E., González, A., & Gutiérrez, K. D. (2017, April). Trans-dimensional architects: The role of space and ingenuity in videogame play. Structured poster session at the the annual meeting of the American Education Research Association, San Antonio, TX. 

Higgs, J., Cortez, A., & Gutierrez, K. D. (2017, April). Uncovering ingenuity in working class families’ everyday practices. Structured poster session presented at the annual meeting of the American Education Research Association, San Antonio, TX. 

Lizarraga, J. R., & Cortez, A. (2017, April). #QueeringThePresent, #QueryingTheFuture: The learning, identity, and performativity of new possible futures through digital queerness online. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Education Research Association, San Antonio, TX. 

Cortez, A., Lizárraga, J. R., & McClung, N. (2017, April). From imagination to action: Architectural ingenuity and the role of play in a summer book writing program. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Education Research Association, San Antonio, TX.

Gutiérrez, K., Cortez, A., Cortes, K., Higgs, J., Lizárraga, J., Tien, J., Vakil, S., DiGiacomo, D., & Mendoza, E. (2016, October). Ingenuity and the shaping of new participation trajectories: Examining Connected Learning through joint mediated practices in the home. Structured poster session presented at the Digital Media and Learning Conference, Irvine, CA. 

Lizarraga, J.R., & Cortez, A. (2016, October). #QueeringThePresent, #QueryingTheFuture: Digital queer gestures on twitter, transforming discourses, and performativities of new possible futures. Paper presented at the Digital Media and Learning Conference, Irvine, CA. 

Higgs, J., Cortez, A., Johnson, P., Vakil, S., Mendoza, E., & Gutiérrez, K. (July, 2016). Uncovering ingenuity in working class families’ everyday practices. Presentation at the Connected Learning Research Network meeting, Berkeley, CA. 

Cortez, A., Lizarraga, J. R., Vakil, S., Cortes, K., & Gutierrez, K. D. (2016, April). Cultural modeling of digital practices in the household: Shifting schemas of parenting and proper technology and digital tool use. Presentation at the annual meeting of the American Education Research Association, Washington, D.C. 

Higgs, J., Cortez, A., Johnson, P., Vakil, S., & Gutierrez, K. D. (2016, April). Uncovering ingenuity in everyday practices. Presentation at the annual meeting of the American Education Research Association, Washington, D.C. 

Lizarraga, J. R., DiGiacomo, D., Higgs, J., Mendoza, E., Cortez, A., & Gutierrez, K. D. (2016, April). Ideologically informed orchestration: Perceptions of technology, family life, and mediation of digital practices. Presentation at the annual meeting of the American Education Research Association, Washington, D.C. 

Gutiérrez, K., Cortez, A., Cortes, K., Higgs, J., Lizarraga, J., Tien, J., Vakil, S., & DiGiacomo, D. (2016, March). Ingenuity and the shaping of new participation trajectories: Examining connected learning through the joint mediated practices in the home. Presentation at the annual meeting of the University-Community Links, Berkeley, CA.

Cortez, A. (2013, November). An untapped resource: Including student ratings in the evaluation of teachers. Presentation at the annual meeting of the University Council of Educational Administration, Indianapolis, IN. 

Cortez, A. (2013, May). Whose judgment counts? Assessing instruction from the student’s perspective. Presentation at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, San Francisco, CA.

Cortez, A. (2012, October). Does student welfare suffer when adults are incentivized to pursue their own self-interest?. Presentation at the annual meeting of the University Council for Educational Administration. Denver, CO.

Cortez, A. (2012, April). Securing agency through multicultural education to challenge existing schooling practices affecting LGBTQ youth. Presentation at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Vancouver, Canada.

Invited Talks, Presentations, & Guest Lectures

* An asterisk indicates student co-authors

☨ Indicates that it was co-authored with community partner(s)

International

Cortez, A. (2024, July 25). Invited panelist on “Using Comics, New Media, Games for Education and Representation” at Comic-Con International 2024, San Diego, California.

Cortez, A. (2021, October 11). Mobilizing for justice: The redux. In Conversation with Alexander Asmolov. Invited talk for Transnational Dialogue on Cultural Praxis, by invitation of Dr. Antti Rajala and Dr. Mike Cole. 

Cortez, A. (2021, June 10). Mentorship group session with PhD students. Invited session at the annual conference of the International Society of Learning Sciences Virtual Conference.

Cortez, A. (2020, November 18). Mobilizing for justice: Centering young people’s ingenuity in everyday digital practice. Invited talk at The First International Symposium on Cultural-Historical Psychology. Novosibirsk, Russia.

Cortez, A., & Lizárraga, J. R. (2020, July 2). Interrogating the notion of giving voice: Designing for transformative agency across learning ecologies. Invited talk at the European Association for Research on Learning and Instruction (EARLI).

National

Cortez, A. (2025). “Cracks in the code”: Developing abolitionist practices in video gaming communities. Invited talk at the University of California, Santa Cruz Education Department Colloquium Series.

Cortez, A. (2024, November 8). Envisioning learning futures with CreativeAI. Invited panelist at the University of Pennsylvania, by invitation of Dr. Yasmin Kafai for the CreateAI workshop series. 

Cortez, A. (2024, November 4). Building new social futures in video game play: Co-designing pedagogical prototypes for imagining beyond inequity. Invited talk at the University of California, Davis, School of Education Graduate Group in Education Research Seminar Series. 

Cortez, A. (2024, June 6). Modding new social futures in virtual and everyday worlds: Transformative learning in video gaming communities. Invited talk at the University of California, Davis, School of Education by invitation of Dr. Danny Martinez and Jennifer Higgs.

Cortez, A. (2024, May 13). Designing for robust STEAM learning: Everyday worldmaking in gaming ecologies. Invited talk at the Math for America Equity Webinar Series, by invitation of Uzma Shah. 

Cortez, A. (2024, February 7). Modding New Social Futures in Virtual and Everyday Worlds: Transformative Learning in Video Gaming Communities. Invited talk at the CU Boulder Department of Information Science, by invitation of Dr. Robin Burke. 

Cortez, A. (2024, January 19). Modding new social futures in virtual and everyday worlds: Transformative learning in video gaming communities. Invited talk at the Department of Education Studies Lunchtime Speaker Series at the University of California, San Diego, by invitation of Dr. Shana Cohen.

☨ Cortez, A., Rivero, E., Lizárraga, J. R., Hunter, A.*, McKoy, A.*, Amouzou, G., Cortez-Vargas, J.*, Echevarria-Rios, H., Herrera, I.*, Perkins, S.*, Reyes-Galvez, M. (2023, October 28). Speculative dream sprints as sites for futurecasting. Invited presentation at the Connected Learning Summit 2023. 

Cortez, A. (2023, October 26). Hacking new social futures: Video games as portals into young people’s socio-political imagination. Keynote presentation at the National Science Teachers Association National Conference, Kansas City, MO. 

Cortez, A., & Lizárraga, J. R. (2023, October 4). Can cyborgs teach us? Speculative pedagogies and the sociopolitical imagination. Invited talk at the Creatively Critical Tech: Research + Design + Practice Speaker Series, by invitation of Dr. Anna Smith. 

Cortez, A. (2023, September 25). Video games as portals into young people’s socio-political imagination. Invited talk at the Creativity and Imagination Coffee Hour, by invitation of Dr. Michael Cole. 

☨ Cortez, A., Rivero, E., Hunter, A.*, McKoy, A.*, Amouzou, G., Cortez-Vargas, J.*, Echevarria-Rios, H., Herrera, I.*, Perkins, S.*, Reyes-Galvez, M. (2023, April 29). Hacking new social futures: Intergenerational world-making in video gaming ecologies. Invited talk at the University-Community Links Annual Conference: Co-constructing Sustainable Futures, by invitation of Dr. Mara Mahmood. 

Cortez, A. (2023, March 27). “Cracks in the code”: Transformative learning in video gaming communities. Invited talk at the University of California, Irvine HX Dialogue, by invitation of Remy Cross. 

Cortez, A. (2023, March 17). “Cracks in the code”: Transformative learning in video gaming communities. Invited talk at the CU Boulder Institute of Cognitive Science Colloquium, by invitation of Dr. Tamara Sumner.

Cortez, A. (2022, November 30). Becoming designers of justice: Creating radically new futures through play. Invited talks at the CU Boulder School of Education, EdTalks, by invitation of Dean Kathy Schultz.

☨ The Learning to Transform (LiTT) Video Gaming Lab (2022, November 30). Modding new social realities in our virtual and everyday worlds. Invited talks at the CU Boulder School of Education, EdTalks, by invitation of Dean Kathy Schultz. 

Philip, T., Pham, J., Scott, M., & Cortez, A. (2022, May 27). Intentionally addressing nested systems of power in schooling through teacher solidarity co-design. Invited talk in Virtual Lab Learning Sciences Colloquium, by invitation of Dr. Shirin Vossoughi.

Cortez, A. (2021, October 13). Speculative activism in video game play: Co-designing imaginaries with educators and young people. Invited talk at the Rutgers Graduate School of Education Learning Science Colloquium, by invitation of Dr. Ravit Duncan and Dr. Nicole Mirra. 

Cortez, A., & Lizárraga, J. R. (2021, July 20). Making online and at home: Lessons beyond the pandemic. Invited talk at the Connected Learning Summit 2021 Virtual Conference. 

Cortez, A. (2021, July 8). Blacktivism in online video game play: Grand Theft Auto as a site for ingenuity. Invited talk to seminar, UCLA Vice-Provost’s Initiative for Pre-College Scholars summer program, by invitation of Dr. Tiera Tanksley. 

Cortez, A. (2021, March 22). Preparing for graduate school as a queer latinx scholar. Invited talk at La Casa Latina at the University of Pennsylvania, by invitation of Dr. Krista Cortes. 

Cortez, A., & Penuel, W. (2021, March 12). iSAT Artificial Intelligence Institute retreat report: Findings and recommendations. Invited talk at the iSAT weekly team meeting. Boulder, Colorado. 

Gutiérrez, K. D., Cortez, A., & Rivero, E. (2020, October). Designing collective digital learning ecologies. Invited speaker to the Spencer Foundation, by invitation of President Nail’ah Suad Nasir. 

Cortez, A., & Lizárraga, J. R. (2020, October). Re-imagining collaboration in (digital) learning environments. Invited speaker to the Chancellor’s Parent Leadership Society by Chancellor Phil DiStefano. 

Cortez, A., & Salazar-Nuñez, B.* (2020, August). Annotating lives and the university. Invited module offered in the Health, Society, and Wellness in COVID-19 Times course at University of Colorado Boulder. By invitation of Dr. Daryl Maeda.

Cortez, A. (2019, November). Designing for ingenuity in the everyday: Re-imagining teacher learning ecologies. Presentation to Development Advisory Board at the University of Colorado Boulder, by invitation of Dean Kathy Schultz. 

Lizárraga, J. R., & Cortez, A. (2019, October). #gentrification, cultural erasure, and the (im)possibilities of digital queer gestures. Invited talk at the University of California, Berkeley.

Lizárraga, J. R., & Cortez, A. (2019, September). The meme connection: Digital literacy and rhetoric through everyday social media practices. Workshop presentation at the University of Colorado Boulder Discover Teaching Conference, by invitation of Dean Kathy Schultz.

Lizárraga, J. R., & Cortez, A. (2016, August). #QueeringThePresent, #QueryingTheFuture: The learning, identity, and performativity of new possible futures through digital queerness online. Presentation to Digital Humanities Summer Institute Critical Approaches Panel.

Anguiano, R., Cortez, A., Jabbar, H., Pearson, P. D., Saxe, G., Stornaiuolo, A., & Worrell, F. C. (2012, April). Demystifying the publishing process: Insights from journal editors on writing, editing, and revising manuscripts for submission. Presentation at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Vancouver, Canada.

Community

Cortez, A. (2022, February 12). Supporting career pathways for high school students. Invited talk at the Denver Rotary Club, by invitation of Cristina Chacón. 

☨ Cortez, A., Lizárraga, J. R., Castro, A.*, & Whittington, J. (2020, November 13). Critical digital pedagogies. Presentation delivered to StopWaste.org by invitation of Angelina Vergara. 

Cortez, A. (2019, November). Everyday writers envisioning new futures. Presentation at the Children’s Literature Festival at the University of Colorado Boulder, by invitation of Professor Bridget Dalton.

Guest University Course Lectures

Cortez, A. (2024, October 30). Imagining new socio-political futures: Transformative gaming as an everyday practice. Invited talk at the University of California, Davis, Learning in a digital age: Information, schooling, and society course, by invitation of Dr. Darnel Degand. 

☨ Cortez, A., & Reyes Galvez, M.* (2024, April 2). Imagining new socio-political futures: Roleplay and creative computing in everyday gaming environments. Invited talk at New York University, Games and Play in Education course, by invitation of Dr. Mia Shaw. 

Cortez, A. (2024, March 22). Advanced Qualitative Methods Workshop. Invited talk at the Stanford Graduate School of Education, by invitation of Dr. Kris D. Gutiérrez. 

Cortez, A., & Lizárraga, J. R. (2024, February 13). Jotería Pedagogies and New Technologies for Latine and Chicanx Communities. Invited talk at UCLA, Introduction to Chicanx & Central American (CCAS) Studies, by invitation of Dr. Laura C. Chávez-Moreno.

Cortez, A., & Lizárraga, J. R. (2023, October 11). Queer and Latinx cultural practices and aesthetics for algorithmic justice. Invited talk at Northwestern University seminar, Design of learning environments: AI, equity, and public education, by invitation of Dr. Sepehr Vakil. 

Cortez, A. (2023, April 10). Video games as vehicles for ingenuity, creativity, and learning during the teen years. Invited panelist in class at CU Boulder School of Education, Advanced Child Growth and Educational Development, by invitation of Dr. Ben Kirshner.

Cortez, A. (2022, March 2). Exploring teacher solidarity co-design in future studies on educator learning ecologies. Invited talk in Qualitative Methods Doctoral Seminar at the University of California, Santa Cruz, by invitation of Dr. Roberto de Roock. 

Cortez, A. (2022, February 8). Critical perspectives in the learning sciences. Invited talk in Advanced Child Growth and Educational Development (master’s seminar) at the University of Colorado Boulder, by invitation of Dr. Benjamin Kirshner. 

Cortez, A. (2022, January 24). Speculative activism in video game play: Co-designing imaginaries with educators and young people. Invited talk in teacher education seminar at the University of California, Davis, by invitation of Dr. Jennifer Higgs. 

Cortez, A. (2022, January 20). Conducting research in solidarity with teachers. Invited talk in the Qualitative Research Methods Doctoral Seminar, by invitation of Dr. Emily Gleason. 

☨ Cortez, A., & Baca, K. (2022, January 19). Speculative activism as a tool to support teacher learning. Invited talk at the Teacher Learning, Research & Practice Seminar, by invitation of Dean Katherine Schultz at CU Boulder.

Cortez, A. (2021, April 5). Critical race theory in the everyday. Invited talk to Introduction to Critical Race Theory in Education, by invitation of Dr. Tiera Tanksley.

☨ Cortez, A., Holcomb, L.*, Scroggins, A.*, Whittington, J. (2020, October). Amplifying young people’s ingenuity in times of uncertainty. Invited speaker to seminar, Public Achievement at the University of Colorado Boulder by invitation of Professor Soraya Latiff. 

Cortez, A. (2020, September). Mobilizing for justice: Youth’s everyday digital practices. Invited participant to seminar, Learning with/in Media at the University of Colorado Boulder, by invitation of Professor José Ramón Lizárraga. 

Cortez, A. (2020, September). Developing methodological tools in a design-based research study. Invited participant to seminar, Advanced Qualitative Methods at the University of California, Berkeley, by invitation of Professor Kris D. Gutiérrez.

Cortez, A. (2020, February). Children’s literature and teacher learning: Teachers and young people leveraging the everyday for transformation. Invited participant to seminar, Children’s Literature at the University of Colorado Boulder, by invitation of Professor Bridget Dalton.

Cortez, A. (2019, October). Co-designing transformative teacher learning ecologies. Invited participant to doctoral seminar, Learning and Social Change in Idiocultures, at Vanderbilt University, by invitation of Dr. Rogers Hall, Nashville, TN.

Cortez, A. & Lizárraga, J. R. (2018, April). Digital literacies across contexts: Undergraduate and teacher education. Presentation to doctoral seminar, Digital Literacies, at University of California, Davis, by invitation of Professor Jennifer Higgs, Davis, CA.

Cortez, A. (2017, March). Critical quantitative approaches in educational research. Presentation to doctoral seminar, Applied Educational Statistics, at University of San Francisco, by invitation of Professor Nicola McClung, San Francisco, CA.

Invited Convenings

CreativeAI: Promoting Culturally and Critically Responsive Design in K-12 (2025, March 2). University of Pennsylvania, by invitation of Dr. Yasmin Kafai.

Inaugural National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) Strategic Communications Discussion (2024, October 30). National Center for Education Statistics (NCES).

Artificial Intelligence and Kids (2023, October 3). MIT Media Lab, by invitation of Dr. Mimi Ito and Dr. Mitchel Resnick.

Urban Teacher Education Consortium (2020, March 3). University of California, Los Angeles, by invitation of Dr. Kathy Schultz.

Re-generating Cultural Historical Activity Theory (2019, June 7). University of California, San Diego, by invitation of Dr. Michael Cole.

Re-generating Cultural Historical Activity Theory (2019, February 25). University of California, Berkeley, by invitation of Dr. Kris D. Gutiérrez.

Equity by Design: Schools and Teacher Education Working Group (SDBE in Schools and Teacher Education) (2018, March 9). University of California, Berkeley, by invitation of Dr. Kris D. Gutiérrez.

Equity by Design: Expanding the Knowledge Base about Social Design-Based Experiments (2017, September 28). University of California, Berkeley, by invitation of Dr. Kris D. Gutiérrez.

Professional Learning Workshops

* An asterisk indicates student co-authors

Cortez, A., Ko, M. M., McKoy, A.*, Penuel, W. R., Hoang, N.*, & Palomar, M.* (2023, July 31 – August 4). iSAT games unit professional learning series. Online workshop for Denver Public School teachers, Boulder, CO. 

Cortez, A., Penuel, W. R., Ko, M. M., McKoy, A.*, Hoang, N.*, & Palomar, M.* (2023, June 22). iSAT games unit revision co-design workshop. Online workshop with high school students and Denver Public School teachers, Boulder, CO. 

Cortez, A., Ko, M., McKoy, A.*, & Penuel, W. R. (2023, April 8 – May 9). Exploring and enacting culturally sustaining artificial intelligence (AI) education. Professional Development Unit workshop for Denver Public Schools.

Cortez, A., Penuel, W. R., Ko, M. M., McKoy, A.*, & Tanksley, T. (2022, June 13-17). iSAT games unit professional learning series. Online workshop for Denver Public School teachers, Boulder, CO.

Cortez, A., Penuel, W. R., Mawasi, A., & McKoy, A.* (2021, July 19-23). National AI Institute for Student-AI Teaming: Curricular co-design summer workshop. Online workshop for Denver Public School teachers, Boulder, CO.

Chang, M., Philip, T. M., Cortez, A., & McKoy, A.* (2021, July 26-30). Learning futures workshop: Artificial intelligence for high school students. Online workshop for high school students, Berkeley, CA. 

Penuel, W. R., & Cortez, A. (2021, March 31-May 20). Storyline: Designing curricula to catalyze systems transformation. Online series for curriculum writers for OpenSciEd and Denver Public School teachers, Boulder, CO.

Media Appearances

* An asterisk indicates student co-authors

Meltzer, E. (2023, April 12). Colorado offers K-12 schools Zearn digital math learning platform at no cost. Chalkbeat Colorado. [Link]

Kirshner, B., Salazar-Nuñez, B.*, Cortez, A., & Hipolito-Delgadgo, C. (2022, January 15). Learning losses or learning gains: The sky is the limit when youths take action. Invited talk with the Silver Lining for Learning Podcast, by invitation of Dr. Chris Dede at Harvard Graduate School of Education. [Link]

Brady, N. (Reporter). (2021, September 27). Video gaming: Who should set limits for kids. In Stanley, D. (Producer), Denver7 Morning News. Denver, CO: ABC. [Link] 

Brady, N. (Reporter). (2021, September 27). Limiting kids video game time. In Stanley, D. (Producer), Denver7 Afternoon News. Denver, CO: ABC. [Link] 

Brady, N. (2021, September 27). How much online gaming is too much? Colorado gamers, experts weigh in. [PDF | Link] 

Strain, D. (2021, May 20). Amid a pandemic, educators reimagine the future of K-12 schools. CU Boulder Today. [PDF | Link] 

Cortez, A., Lizárraga, J. R., Jurow, A. S., Kirshner, B., Mendoza, E., Paguyo, C., Penuel, W. R., Shea, M., Schultz, K., Stamatis, K., & Tayne, K. (2020, September 8). Dear professor from learning scientists on Anti-Blackness. [Link]

Arakawa, B., & Ting, A. (2017, August 2). Professors’ publishing press wins social change award. University of San Francisco Changemakers. [PDF | Link] 

Tom, D. (2017). Purposeful publishers. Berkeley Educator. UC, Berkeley Graduate School of Education. [PDF] 

Tom, D. (2017, December). Opening the pages to a more just world. The Promise of Berkeley. [PDF]

Cockrell, C. (2015, May 7). Pausing to honor outstanding public service. Berkeley News. [PDF | Link] 

Nelson, L. (2015, January 23). USF students help kids create diverse books for peers. San Francisco Chronicle Education Guide. [PDF] 

Fuller, B. (2015, August 28). Millennials in their own words. San Francisco Chronicle. [Link] 

Fuller, B. (2015, August 28). Millennials — when the political is what’s personal. San Francisco Chronicle. [Link] 

Cortez, A. (2012, January 31). University of California, Berkeley Distinguished Fellow Video Contest: Arturo Cortez. [Link]

Service

Service to Profession

2024-2025: Program Co-Chair (Appointed), 19thInternational Conference of the Learning Sciences (ICLS2025)

2023-2024: Member (Appointed), Yamashita Prize Selection Committee, University of California, Berkeley

2023: Member (Appointed), International Society of the Learning Sciences Hybrid Engagement Subcommittee and the Virtual Planning Group

2023: Member (Appointed), International Society of the Learning Sciences Pre-Conference Organizational Committee

2023: Reviewer (Invited), The Spencer Foundation, Racial Equity Grant Review Committee 

2022-2023: Member (Appointed), American Educational Research Association Division K Innovations in Research on Equity and Social Justice in Teacher Education Award Committee

2022-2023: Member (Appointed), American Educational Research Association, Cultural-Historical Special Interest Group Award Committee

2021-2022: Member (Appointed), American Educational Research Association, Division K Outstanding Dissertation Award Committee

2020-2022: Co-Chair (Elected), American Educational Research Association, Cultural-Historical Special Interest Group

2019-2020: Invited Participant, University of California at Berkeley, Principal Leadership Institute Advisory Group

2019-2022: Invited Participant, Virtual Lab Learning Sciences Collective

2018-2020: Invited Participant, Re-generating Cultural Historical Activity Theory Design Collective

Editorial Positions

2023-present: Senior Editor (Appointed), Mind, Culture, and Activity. 

2020-2022: Associate Editor (Appointed), Mind, Culture, and Activity. 

2020-present: Senior Editor (Appointed), Cultural Praxis. 

2010-2015: Co-Editor, Berkeley Review of Education.

Peer-Review of Scholarly Publications & Conferences

Journal of the Learning Sciences, Reading Research Quarterly, gamevironments, English Teaching: Practice & Critique, Cognition and Instruction, Routledge Press, Teachers College Press, American Educational Research Association Annual Conference, International Society of the Learning Sciences Annual Conference

Departmental & University Service

2023: Reviewer, Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP) Review Committee, Undergraduate Enrichment Programs, University of Colorado Boulder

2023: Reviewer, Norlin Scholars Review Committee, Undergraduate Enrichment Programs, University of Colorado Boulder

2023: Lead, Learning Sciences and Human Development MA Admissions Committee, University of Colorado Boulder, School of Education

2023: Member, Primary Unit Evaluation Committee (PUEC) for CU Engage Instructor Jen Korbelik, University of Colorado Boulder, School of Education

2023: Member, Primary Unit Evaluation Committee (PUEC) for CU Engage Instructor Elaina Verveer, University of Colorado Boulder, School of Education

2023: Reviewer, Place-based Partnership Sustainability Grants Committee, University of Colorado Boulder, School of Education

2023: Reviewer, Undergraduate Scholarship Review Committee, University of Colorado Boulder, School of Education

2022-2023: Member, LAN Gaming Space Review Committee, Division of Student Affairs, University of Colorado Boulder

2021-2022: Lead, Teacher Learning, Research & Practice Admission Committee, University of Colorado Boulder, School of Education

2020-2022: Faculty Mentor, Graduate Students of Color Caucus, University of Colorado Boulder, School of Education

2020: Member, Faculty Retreat Planning Committee, University of Colorado Boulder, School of Education

2020-2023: Mentor, Doctoral Mentoring Pathways Program, University of Colorado Boulder, School of Education

2020-2021: Member, Teacher Learning, Research & Practice Search Committee, University of Colorado Boulder, School of Education

2020-2021: Member, Art Museum Collections Committee, University of Colorado Boulder

2019-2021: Member, Scholarship Selection Committee, University of Colorado Boulder, School of Education

2019-2020: Board Member, Black Student Alliance Advisory Board, University of Colorado Boulder

2020: Member, Dean’s Appraisal Committee, University of Colorado Boulder, School of Education

2019: Affinity Group Leader, Teachers of Color and Allies Summit, University of Colorado Boulder

Service to Community-Based Organizations

2020-present: Advisory Board Member, Griot Theater Company

2012-present: Co-founder and Publisher, Xóchitl Justice Press

University Teaching

University of Colorado Boulder, School of Education

Critical Cultural Historical Approaches to Teacher Learning (Doctoral Seminar) From CHAT to Critical CHAT (Doctoral Seminar) 

Advanced Qualitative Analysis: Video-based Analysis (Doctoral Seminar) Learning & Social Interaction: Using Video as Data in the Learning Sciences (Doctoral Seminar) 

Theories and Methodologies for Examining Teacher Learning (Doctoral Seminar) Critical Digital Pedagogies: Teaching, Learning & Technologies of the Everyday (In-service Teacher Education) 

Learning with Technology In and Out of School (Undergraduate) 

Culturally Sustaining Pedagogies (Pre-service Teacher Education) 

Step Up to Social Justice (Pre-service Teacher Education)

University of San Francisco, School of Education

Academic Literacy (Pre-service Teacher Education) 

Curriculum: Currents and Controversies (Pre-service Teacher Education) 

Early Literacy (Pre-service Teacher Education) 

Education of Bilingual Children (Pre-service Teacher Education)

University of California, Berkeley

Advanced Qualitative Methods, Graduate Student Instructor (Doctoral Seminar)

(Re)presenting Humanity at the Margins, Instructor of Record (Doctoral Seminar)

Data Analysis in Education, Graduate Student Instructor (Doctoral Seminar)

Quantitative Research Methods, Instructor of Record (Doctoral seminar) 

Introduction to Statistics, Graduate Student Instructor (Undergraduate)

Mentoring

University of Colorado Boulder

Postdoctoral Associates (Current position):

Areej Mawasi, Ph.D. (Lecturer-Tenure Track, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology)

Edward Rivero, Ph.D. (Visiting Assistant Professor, Teachers College, Columbia University)

Dissertation Committee Member, Graduated Ph.D. Students (Current position): 

Daniel Moore, Ph.D. (Metropolitan State University of Denver) 

Christopher Saldaña, Ph.D. (Assistant Professor, University of Wisconsin-Madison)

Kirsten Tivaringe, Ph.D. (Assistant Teaching Professor, University of Missouri-Columbia) 

Jordan Wirfs-Brock, Ph.D. (Assistant Professor, Whitman College)

Graduated Master’s and Undergraduate Students

Jax Gonzalez, Ph.D., Department of Sociology, Capstone Committee Member

Celeste Moreno, ATLAS Institute, Masters Thesis Committee Member

Patrick D. Williams, School of Education, Capstone Committee Member

Erika Andrade, Environmental Design, Senior Honors Thesis Committee Member

Ph.D. Dissertation Committee (4 Chair/Co-Chair)

Nelson Castro, School of Education (Co-Chair, Ph.D. Student) 

Nga Hoang, School of Education (Co-Chair, Ph.D. Student) 

Ashieda McKoy, School of Education (Chair, Ph.D. Candidate) 

Beatriz Salazar-Nuñez, School of Education (Co-Chair, Ph.D. Candidate) 

Celeste Moreno, ATLAS Institute (Ph.D. Dissertation Committee Member)

Ph.D. Comprehensive Examination Committee

Ashieda McKoy, School of Education 

Celeste Moreno, ATLAS Institute 

Beatriz Salazar-Nuñez, School of Education 

Kachine Kulick, School of Education 

Kaitlin Baca, School of Education

Masters Students (1 Advisor)

Angalen Bland, School of Education (Advisor)

University of California, Berkeley, Graduate School of Education (Current position)

Peter Parenti, Ed.D. (President, A4LE-Association for Learning Environments)

Jamila Dugan, Ed.D. (Independent consultant) 

Maya Doig-Acuña (Ph.D. Student, Harvard University)

University of San Francisco, School of Education (Current Employment)

Andy Castro (PhD Student, University of California, Berkeley) 

LeShawn Holcomb (Middle School Teacher, Bayside Martin Luther King School)

Benjamin Calvert (High School ELA Teacher, Making Waves Academy)

Sharif Musaji (High School Teacher, Berkeley High School) 

Julian Chavez-Byrnes (Middle School Teacher, Aptos MIddle School)

Rachael Zarate (High School Teacher, Oakland Unified School District)

Gohar Yervandyan (Teacher, San Francisco Unified School District)

Undergraduate & Graduate Research Experience

2015-2019: Research assistant for study on everyday lives of middle class Latinx families with Kris. D. Gutiérrez, Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley, Graduate School of Education.

2011-2014: Research assistant for teacher leadership study with Heinrich Mintrop, Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley, Graduate School of Education.

2009-2010: Research assistant for study on digitally-mediated learning with Glynda Hull, Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley, Graduate School of Education.

2008-2009: Research assistant for principal leadership study with Jonathan Supovitz, Ed.D., University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education.

2007: Research assistant for school finances study with Jon Fullerton, Ph.D., Harvard Graduate School of Education.

2001: Undergraduate field research in emergency medicine with Judd E. Hollander, M.D., University of Pennsylvania Medical Center.

1999: Undergraduate biochemistry research on nutritional health with Scott M. Smith, Ph.D., NASA Johnson Space Center, National Space Biomedical Research Institute.

1998-2001: Undergraduate neurobehavioral field research on physiological regulation of sleep behavior with David Dinges, Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania Medical Center.

1998-1999: Undergraduate biochemical research on voltage-gated sodium channels with Jacqueline Tanaka, Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania Department of Biology.

Professional Memberships

2020-present: International Society of the Learning Sciences (ISLS)

2020-present: International Society of Cultural-historical Activity Research (ISCAR)

2020-2022: Centre for Innovation in Teacher Education and Development (CITED)

2020-present: European Association for Research on Learning and Instruction (EARLI)

2017-2019: Equity by Design: Social Design-Based Experiments Working Group

2015-2019: Prolepsis Design Studio

2010-present: American Educational Research Association (AERA)