Thomas Garza

Candidate for Member at Large, 2019

Thomas Jesús Garza is Distinguished Teaching Associate Professor in Slavic and Eurasian Studies, the Director of the Texas Language Center, and Interim Director of the Arabic Flagship Program at the University of Texas at Austin. He chaired the Slavic department from 2004-09, directed the Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies from 2001-09, has directed the Texas Language Center since 2009 and the Arabic Flagship Program since 2015. Garza received his M.A. degree in Slavic and his doctorate in foreign language education from Harvard University in 1987. He has published numerous articles on Russian language teaching and contemporary Russian culture, in addition to contributing numerous chapters to edited volumes. He teaches Russian language, foreign language pedagogy, and contemporary Russian culture. Garza’s current research is on the attitudes of Russian youth toward the Chechen wars, and has recently completed a book manuscript on cultural portraits of machismo in contemporary Russian and Mexican cultures, entitled Bandits and Lovers: Marginal Masculinities in Contemporary Mexican and Russian Popular Cultures. During his tenure at the University of Texas, he has received numerous prizes for undergraduate and graduate teaching, and also received the AATSEEL award for Post-Secondary Teaching in 2001. Garza has served before on the ASEEES board and is currently President of the American Council of Teachers of Russian (ACTR), and has served on their board of directors since 1998. He also served on and chaired the joint AATSEEL/ASEEES Committee on Language from 2010-2013, and currently serves on the newly-formed Committee on Diversity and Inclusion. He would be honored to serve on the ASEEES board once again.