Skip to main content
Department ofEnglish

Cruz Medina

Cruz Medina

Associate Professor

Dr. Medina is an Associate Professor of Rhetoric and Composition in the English department at Santa Clara University. As a Ph.D. in Rhetoric and Composition, Dr. Medina is critical in approach, and his research interests include digital writing and multicultural rhetoric, focusing on issues of social justice, race, and pedagogy. His book Reclaiming Poch@ Pop: Examining the Rhetoric of Cultural Deficiency (Palgrave 2015) addresses issues of citizenship, education, and politics related to Latin@s in the U.S. Currently, Dr. Medina is co-editing an edited collection for Computers and Composition Digital Press (CCDP) on (mis)representations of race and technology. Professor Medina's book Sanctuary: Exclusion, Violence, and Indigenous Migrants in the East Bay comes from three years of research when Medina taught English as a volunteer for an adult migrant student population, incorporating decolonial and critical race theories to address Indigenous displacement and the protection of property.

Education
  • Ph.D. Rhetoric, Composition, and the Teaching of English University of Arizona
  • MFA/MA Creative Writing (Fiction)/English, Chapman University
  • BA German Language and Literature/English (minor) University of California, Santa Barbara
Courses
  • Introduction to Writing Studies and Digital Publication
  • Social Justice and Literacy
  • Critical Thinking and Writing (iPad Pilot Program)
Publications
  • “Composition Studies: Decolonial Potential in a Multilingual FYC.” Best of the Journals of Rhetoric and Composition 2020. Eds. Jessica Pauszek, Kristi Girdharry, Charles Lesh, David Blakesley, and Steve Parks. Parlor Press, 2021. pp. 58-84.
  • “‘Publishing is Mystical’: The Latinx Caucus Bibliography, Top-Tier Journals, and Minority Scholarship.” Rhetoric Review, vol. 39, no. 3, 2020, pp. 303-316. (with Perla Luna '19).
  • “Digital Testimonio: Latin@ Multimodal Storytelling.” Racial Shorthand: Coded Discrimination in Social Media, edited by Cruz Medina and Octavio Pimentel. Computers and Composition Digital Press, Computers and Composition Digital P/Utah State UP, 2018.
  • Reclaiming Poch@ Pop: Examining Rhetoric of Cultural Deficiency (2015) Palgrave.com
  • “Tweeting Collaborative Identity: Race, ICTs, and Latinidad.” Communicating Race, Ethnicity, and Identity in Technical Communication (2014) Preview
  • (Who Discovered) America: Ozomatli and the Mestiz@ Rhetoric of Hip Hop.” Alter/nativas (Feb. 2014)
  • “Nuestros Refranes: Culturally Relevant Writing in Tucson High Schools.” Reflections: A Journal of Public Rhetoric, Civic Writing, and Service Learning (Fall 2013)   link with access Table of Contents
  • Family Profession.” College Composition and Communication (Sept. 2013)