January 14: Dr. Rita Kohli: Rita Kohli is an Associate Professor in the Education, Society and Culture Program in the Graduate School of Education at the University of California, Riverside (UCR). She has a Ph.D. in Education with an emphasis on Race and Ethnic Studies from the University of California, Los Angeles.

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January 28: Dr. Gholdy Muhammad (Georgia State University) Gholnecsar (Gholdy) Muhammad began her career as a reading, language arts and social studies middle school teacher. After teaching in the classroom, she served as a school district curriculum director and was responsible for K-12 literacy instruction, assessments and professional development. Muhammad received her Ph.D. in Literacy, Language and Culture at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Her research interests are situated in the historical foundations of literacy development and the writing practices among Black communities. Each year she holds a summer literacy institute with Black girls called, Black Girls WRITE!, which reflects literacy practices found in 19th-century African American literary societies. Her work has appeared in numerous books and journals, including Research in the Teaching of English, Urban Education, Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy and Written Communication.

February 18: RILE Alumni Panel

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March 11: Dr. Manuel Espinoza: Dr. Espinoza describes himself as "a child of desegregation" (Keyes v. Denver School District No. 1, 1973) and a Chicano ethnographer of education working in the scholarly tradition that emerged during the 20th century struggle against racism in the U.S. The labor in this historical vineyard consists of linking social scientific research to everyday struggles for a just society. Historically, this line of social science has provided the law with intellectual and empirical resources to perceive social life anew. To illustrate, consider the contributions of social scientists in landmark cases such as Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954), Loving v. Virginia (1967), and Grutter v. Bollinger (2003).