Tasha Austin

Tasha Austin is an assistant professor of teacher education, language education and multilingualism. She is the outgoing Teacher Education Special Interest Group Representative for New Jersey Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages-New Jersey Bilingual Educators (NJTESOL-NJBE) and co-created and hosted their "Critical Conversations" YouTube series. Tasha has been named a 2022-2024 Cultivating New Voices Fellow by the National Council of Teachers of English and was awarded the Anthony J. Papalia Award for outstanding article by the New York State Association of Foreign Language Teachers. Her research uses critical race theory and Black feminist epistemologies through a raciolinguistic perspective to qualitatively examine language, identity and power, and the ways in which anti-Blackness emerges in language education and (language) teacher preparation. Through her purposeful enactment of critical consciousness and engaged pedagogies, her praxis seeks to effect meaningful change in the field of language education and within teacher education more broadly.

• PhD, Rutgers, School of Graduate Studies, Education (2022)
• M.A., Rutgers School of Graduate Studies, Education (2021)
• Ed.M., Rutgers, Graduate School of Education, Language Education (2007)
• B.A., Douglass College, Spanish Language and Culture (2006)

• Anthony J. Papalia Award for Outstanding Article in a State or National Foreign Language Education Publication; New York State Association of Foreign Language Teachers (NYSAFLT); 2022-10-21;
• Cultivating New Voices 2022-2024 Fellow; National Council of Teachers of English; 2022-08-26;

• Austin, T. (2022). “A Hard Time Seeing the Relevance”: Race and discourse identity in language teacher preparation. International Journal of Literacy, Culture and Language Education.
• Austin, T. (2022). Linguistic Imperialism: Countering AntiBlack Racism in World Language Teacher Preparation. Journal for Multicultural Education.
• Austin, T., Hsieh, B. (2021). #SayHerName: Addressing Anti-Blackness and Patriarchy in Language and Literacy Curricula. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy. 65(3), 237-244.
• Porcher, K. M., Austin, T., (2021). “Black Women are the Mules of the World”: Black Women Professors of Practice in Teacher Education Programs. Journal of African American Women and Girls in Education, 1(3), 109-129.

• Austin, T., Porcher K., Curran M., DePaola, J., Pelaez J. & Raffaelli L. (2021). We Still Have Work to Do: Community-Engaged Experiences and Impact in an Urban Social Justice Program. Teachers College Press.