Faculty

Sarah Capitelli came to USF from Stanford where she completed her PhD in Educational Linguistics. Before her work at Stanford, Dr. Capitelli taught elementary school for seven years, two in Venezuela and five in East Oakland in a Spanish-bilingual classroom. She is particularly interested in better understanding and improving conditions for learning and teaching in linguistically segregated schools. She is an Associate Professor with USF's Teacher Education program.

Sedique Popal, Assistant Professor and the coordinator of the MA TESOL program. He teaches cognitive and social theories of linguistics: Sociolinguistics, Applied Linguistics, Assessment and Testing, Curriculum Design, and TESOL Methods courses. He has taught and trained teachers in six different countries. He has been a featured presenter and keynote speaker in the following national and international organizations: TESOL, CATESOL, NABE, and CABE. He has been awarded the Outstanding Educator...

Noah Borrero is a professor in the teacher education department, with a focus in urban education and social justice. He teaches courses in bilingual/bicultural education, teaching for diversity and social justice, critical pedagogy, and action research. Professor Borrero's scholarship focuses on promoting equity in schools through focusing on students' and teachers' cultural assets.

After earning a doctorate from Stanford University in 2006, that same year Professor Borrero helped develop the...

Patrick Camangian, PhD is a professor of Teacher Education at the University of San Francisco. Patrick’s interdisciplinary research on humanizing education intersects critical and culturally relevant pedagogy, critical literacy, and health science research. Patrick pursues these areas of research to improve teacher quality, capacity, and retention, as well as to inform policies and practices impacting urban schools and communities. He has been working in schools since 1997, continuing in the...

Helen Maniates, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Teacher Education and coordinator of the Master of Arts of Teaching Reading Program in the School of Education at the University of San Francisco. As a community engaged scholar, her work addresses both “schooled” literacy and out-of-school literacy practices. She works in partnership with local community-based organizations to provide an annual summer reading program for K-8 students that addresses summer learning loss. Her research projects...

Dr. Farima Pour-Khorshid was born and raised in the Bay Area where she later taught at the elementary grade levels in her community for over a decade. She has supported educators locally, nationally, and internationally through her roles as a university professor, teacher supervisor, educational consultant, and community organizer. She is committed to abolition and healing-centered engagement within and outside of the field of education. Much of her work is rooted in healing centered initiatives...

Professor Ruchi Rangnath received a doctorate degree from Teachers College, Columbia University. She is a Bay Area native and has taught in elementary schools across San Jose and New York City. Her research focuses on critical literacy, humanizing practices, Ethnic Studies, and social justice teaching and learning in elementary classrooms.

Her recent books include Planting the Seed of Equity: Ethnic Studies and Social Justice in the K-2 Classroom, Preparing to Teach Social Studies for Social...

Dr. Luz Navarrette García is a part-time professor in the Department of International and Multicultural Education at the University of San Francisco. She has been a proud part of the IME familia since starting her doctoral studies in 2008. A full-time community college ESL professor at Santa Rosa Junior College, Dr. García is happy to share her expertise with students in the MA TESOL program.

Yi Guan’s scholarly work focuses on strategy-based instruction, educational technology, and adult education. She has been invited to present at regional and national conferences such as CATESOL and TESOL. Her dissertation research employed the mixed methods approach and implemented a 3-phase research design to investigate how explicit listening strategy instruction might impact adult ESL students’ listening comprehension performance.

Dr. Guan has over 10 years of experience working with...

Judith (Judy) Pace is Professor of Teacher Education in the School of Education at the University of San Francisco. Her scholarship examines classroom teaching and curriculum and its relationship to diversity, democracy, and sociopolitical contexts. She has a Fulbright Global Scholar award for 2023-2024 to teach and conduct research at university-based teacher education programs in Bosnia and Herzegovina and South Africa.

Dr. Pace has published four books, numerous research and practitioner...