Tomas Maldonado
|
Greetings to All,
My name is Tomas Maldonado and I’m super excited to embark on my PhD in Rhetoric & Composition with UTEP. I’ll be exploring the efficacy of creative nonfiction literacy narratives and how they may relieve writing anxiety common among 1st year students of English composition.
I hold an AA in Liberal Arts from EPCC where I concentrated on a number of English literature courses. After transferring from the College to UTEP, I graduated Magna Cum Laude with a BA in English and American Literature and a double minor in Creative Writing and Liberal Arts Honors. My honors thesis was titled “Three Relevant Principles in Edward Said’s ‘Orientalism’: A Balanced Critique of Postcolonial Theory & International Politics Amidst the Current East versus West Conflict.” I received a number of awards from the Liberal Arts and English Departments in addition to accolades from the Inter-American Jewish Studies Program.
Upon completion of my undergraduate studies, I went on to complete an MA in TESL & Applied Linguistics at MNSU Mankato where my capstone project explored the efficacy and benefits of podcast listening among English for Academic Purposes students while I taught EAP courses in speaking, listening, reading and writing.
During the Pandemic years, I completed an MFA in Creative Writing with a concentration in poetry and creative nonfiction. My thesis, “A Mexican American Stuck in Egypt: Poems about everyday Chicano expatriate life in the Cradle of Civilization,” explores my brief stay in Egypt during the pre-Arab Spring of 2009 and how I interacted with the locals.
As for my teaching experience, I have taught Academic English for both the English Department and the Intensive English Language Program at MNSU Mankato since 2018 in addition to teaching English for Academic Purposes at South Central College in North Mankato since the Spring of 2019 as an adjunct instructor. Based on research that I conducted from 2019 to 2024 at both institutions, my colleague, Dr. Paolo Infante, and myself have a chapter on teaching students the importance of sociopragmatics supporting deontic and epistemic uses of modals to be published next year in “Applying Cognitive Linguistics in the English Classroom” by Bloombury Press.
I am currently a content writer for Erato Magazine delving into the genres of personal essay, book reviews of poetry and interviews of upcoming writers. My creative nonfiction, poetry and short stories have been published in Chrysalis, Rio Grande Review, SEDAA, Latin@ Literatures, The Corresponder of MNSU, Akpata Literary Magazine and El Paso Food Voices.
I have several years of tutoring experience with multilingual learners and native English speakers at UTEP’s English Language Institute, MNSU Mankato’s Writing Center and online with Tutor.com.
I look forward to working with you at the Writing Center as well as addressing your academic needs, goals and objectives for the semester!
