Rate My Professor Vonzell Agosto

Vonzell Agosto, Ph.D., is a Professor in the College of Education at the University of South Florida, serving as Chair of the Department of Leadership, Policy, and Lifelong Learning since 2021. She earned her Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Agosto began her teaching career as a teacher's aide in a suburban day school for students diagnosed as severely dis/abled. She later served as a special education teacher and consultant in inclusive education programs, including self-contained and collaborative teaching settings, at a comprehensive high school in Chicago. During her graduate studies, she worked as a teaching assistant for a Multicultural Learning Community Seminar, trained in Theater of the Oppressed techniques, and facilitated anti-racist workshops for community and campus organizations and conferences. She has presented research at major gatherings including the American Educational Research Association, Curriculum and Pedagogy Conference, National Association of Multicultural Education, Bergamo, International Conference for Qualitative Inquiry, and University Council for Educational Administration.

Agosto's research explores curriculum leadership, disability studies in education, cultural studies, and anti-oppressive education, particularly how educational contexts engage theories of social oppression concerning culture, race, gender, and dis/ability. She serves as Associate Editor of the Journal of Curriculum and Pedagogy and was Secretary of Division B: Curriculum Studies of the American Educational Research Association from 2020 to 2022. Her publications appear in journals such as Review of Research in Education, Race Ethnicity & Education, Educational Researcher, Teachers College Record, Journal of School Leadership, Journal of Curriculum Theorizing, and Journal of Negro Education. Recent publications include "A cartography of controversy concerning MAGA political rhetoric, racism, and symbolism in schools" (2023, Qualitative Studies in Education), "Jokering Bodies" (2022, International Review of Qualitative Research), "A constellation of artistic voices: Assembling historically provocative artwork and emerging racial perceptions" (2022, Journal of Curriculum and Pedagogy), and "Black Women Acting Against the Extremes of Visibility in the Academy" (2022, Journal of African American Women and Girls in Education). As principal or co-principal investigator, she has led grants totaling approximately $4.3 million, including "The BEST Way: A Study of Black Males in the Medical/Healthcare Fields," "Advancing Leadership for Intersectional Equity," and "Preparing Leaders for Faculty Roles in Special Education Administration and Policy Studies." Awards include the Early Career Scholar Award from AERA SIG Critical Curriculum and Cultural Studies (2015), Social Justice Teaching Award from AERA SIG Leadership for Social Justice (2014), National Diversity Scholar from NCID (2009), and a fellowship at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's Institute on Race and Ethnicity (2007-2008).