Biography

Michael Angel Vázquez is a sixth-year PhD student at the Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. As part of the Culture, Institutions, and Society strand of the Education program, with a secondary in Latinx Studies, Michael’s dissertation explores themes of cross-racial learning and solidarity in higher education. In addition to his studies, Michael is an Instructor in Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, where he teaches EDU EQO11C (Equity and Opportunity: Gender and Sexuality in Context) and EDU T475 (¡Sí, Se Puede!: Critical Issues in Education Affecting Latina/e/x/o Students and Families). He has also been a Teaching Fellow for courses focused on Ethnic Studies, Healing Centered Engagement, Queering Education, Building Critical Consciousness, Ethnic-Racial Identity, Research Methods and Evaluation, Learning and Development, and Teaching Hard Histories, among others.

Regarding research, Michael is deeply committed to open and accessible outlets. He has published pieces in Label Me Latina and Revista: Harvard Review of Latin America, and he has co-authored papers in the Journal of Community Psychology and Child Development. He has also participated in various virtual discussions with scholars, activists, artists, and athletes about themes around gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, migration, and more. Michael has also been featured on the Ni de Aquí podcast and has co-produced two documentaries for Third Root Media.

Outside of the classroom, Michael has had an active presence in the Harvard community. He served as a resident tutor at Adams House, president of the Latinx Student Association, vice president of LGBTQ@GSAS, a lead organizer for the Alumni of Color Conference, and as an Intellectual and Cultural Fellow for the GSAS Student Center. He has also been involved with the Harvard Graduate Student Union and the Harvard Ethnic Studies Coalition. For the 2022-23 academic year, Michael was recognized as Graduate Associate for the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies and as a Fellow for the Immigration Initiative at Harvard. In 2021, he received the Kolajo Paul Afolabi Award for Commitment to Educational Justice.

Research Interests

• Ethnic Studies
• Latina/e/o/x Studies
• Education
• Migration
• Youth Activism
• LGBTQ+ Studies