Juan R. Buriel teaches composition, literature, and critical thinking. He holds B.A. degrees in Communication and American Studies along with a M.A. degree in American Studies from the University of New Mexico, as well as a M.A. and Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from the University of California, Irvine. He is a Ford Diversity Fellow with the National Research Council of the National Academies, former COC English Department chair (2014-2016), and studies Chicano Literature, subalternity, and critical theory. Juan has been teaching full-time at COC since 2007, lives in Santa Clarita with his family, and travels regularly to Riverside, CA and Albuquerque, NM to visit extended family.