Faculty Features

Dr. Mary Carol Combs

Professor, Teaching, Learning, and Sociocultural Studies

Dr. Mary Carol Combs is a Professor in the Department of Teaching, Learning, and Sociocultural Studies. Her research interests traverse bilingual education policy and law, sociocultural theory, indigenous language revitalization and development, immigration and education, sheltered instruction, and ELL teacher preparation. This year marks Dr. Combs’ 30^th year as a faculty member in the College of Education, during which she has also held affiliate faculty standing in Latin American Studies (LAS) and Second Language Acquisition and Teaching (SLAT), as well as serving as the Director of the Education Policy Center. A trusted advisor, mentor, and colleague beloved by all who have the pleasure to work and learn alongside her, Dr. Combs has been committed to community engaged praxis and collaborative partnerships across her career. She is also a tireless advocate for equity-driven educational practice.

Who do you draw inspiration from and why?

In my scholarly life, this changes from time to time depending on whose work I am reading or teaching. However, a steady inspiration has been Brazilian educator Paulo Freire, who has provided me with a valuable framework to more critically understand the conditions of oppression that so many of us are experiencing, especially in the current political moment. Freire has also given me a kind of lexical grammar to engage in political struggle. I am drawn to his claim that our stance in the world should be both militant and loving. His ideas about the world and our role within it make sense to me as I navigate global catastrophes with so many conflicting emotions. 

Two other individuals have touched me deeply. First is my father, who exposed me to the importance of publicly confronting systemic injustices. He was born and raised in the Mississippi Delta, a witness to the racial violence of Jim Crow laws. Like many southerners, he was a gifted storyteller who managed to turn even the most mundane of topics into tales of intrigue and wild adventure. Unlike most of his peers, however, he had a social consciousness and public activism that ultimately led to self-exile from the state (for example, his opposition to states’ rights and criticism of Greek life at the University of Mississippi resulted in threats to his life). One of my earliest memories is watching him leave our duplex in suit and tie to walk the picket lines at segregated grocery stores in the sweltering heat of Durham, North Carolina. I like to think he guided me on a similar path. 

The second individual who continues to inspire was my friend and mentor Richard Ruiz. Richard persuaded me that leaving Washington, DC to seek a doctorate in language, reading and culture "might be a good idea" since at the time we met I was unemployed and at loose ends and needed a "good project." Richard taught me how to think and talk about language policy, which became my primary area of scholarship.

What are one or two accomplishments of which you are most proud?

I still have things I hope to accomplish, but I appreciate the collective work that I and many others undertook in 2000 to fight Proposition 203, the anti-bilingual ballot initiative that forced teachers and schools to adopt English-only instruction for all students who entered schools speaking Spanish and other languages. We organized town halls, debates and symposia throughout Tucson and the State of Arizona. After the initiative passed, we met with parents in open forums to share information about their education rights. For the next couple of decades, language policy and language rights became a major focus of my academic work. 

If my two children can be considered "accomplishments," I am proud of them. My older daughter Claudia is an assistant professor of Latin American geography at SUNY Old Westbury in New York. Sarah Maria works in behavioral health services in Tucson (Adult Crisis Center, Casa Alitas and the Pasqua Yaqui tribe, among others). They are my light and my hope.

What advice would you give to your younger self?

To allow the time it takes to sift through and think with theory. This also means figuring out how to apply theoretical frameworks to data analysis. I actually love doing this!

What is something you are working on currently that you’re excited about?

I am working on two scholarly projects that excite me. One explores the quotidian life of physical artifacts collected along the border wall, that is, objects carried and discarded by migrants as they have journeyed Latin, Central America and Mexico. These artifacts were strewn across the dry, dusty landscape along, objects that bear witness to the migrants’ journey: shirts and jackets, medical prescriptions, painkillers, purses and full of the articles of everyday life, deodorant sticks, mascara, eyelash curlers, lip balm, infant diapers, mints, children’s toys, toothbrushes and sunblock. Far from “border trash” that some have labeled these items, these objects carry intimate meaning for people crossing borders. A child’s toy, a bottle of cologne, birth control pills, stuffed animals, etc. have meaning far from their instrumental function. They signal memories of home and family, moments in time, aspirations of a future imagined without violence, oppression, poverty and suffering. 

The second project is one I am exploring with a colleague from TUSD. This study considers the theoretical frameworks used by teachers to engage students in important discussions about race and racism, ethnicity and xenophobia, gender and sexism, language and linguistic discrimination, disabilities and ableism.