Sheridan Wigginton, Ph.D.

Sheridan Wigginton, Ph.D. is a Professor of Spanish and Latin American Studies at California Lutheran University. Since 2014, she has also served as President of the Afro-Latin/American Research Association (ALARA). Her latest writing Unmastering the Script: Education, Critical Race Theory, and the Struggle to Reconcile the Haitian Other in Dominican Identity, co-authored with Richard T. Middleton IV, is a book published by the University of Alabama Press in 2019. Prof. Wigginton’s latest monograph, Dominican Representation in Introductory-Level Spanish Textbooks in the United States, will analyze representations of Dominicans and Dominican culture in eight Spanish textbooks that are widely used in U.S. colleges and universities. Her project seeks to describe these portrayals, highlight their absence when appropriate, and through qualitative content analysis, consider Dominican representation through the lens of the American Council on the ‘Teaching of Foreign Languages’ “Culture” Standard, which is grounded in products, perspectives, and practices. Her analysis will also address issues of color and national identity by examining the physical characterizations of the people depicted in Dominican-themed culture activities in these textbooks.