Roberto Avant-Mier

Roberto Avant-Mier (PhD, Univ. of Utah) has been in the Department of Communication at UTEP since 2010, and he is also affiliated faculty in Chicano/a Studies. Prior to returning to Texas-El Paso in 2010, he was a professor at Boston College, and he previously attended the University of Utah, UTEP, and the University of Hawaii at Manoa. His research analyzes the discursive construction of Latino/Hispanic identity(ies) and cultural issues in popular music and film.

Prof. Avant-Mier is the co-author of the NEW BOOK Cine-Mexicans: An Introduction to Chicano Cinema (2018, Kendall Hunt), which is based on several years of teaching classes on cinema and film, and analyzing the image(s) of Mexicans in U.S./Hollywood movies & films [co-authored with Michael Lechuga]. Dr. Avant-Mier is also the author of Rock the Nation: Latin/o Identities and the Latin Rock Diaspora (2010, Continuum/Bloomsbury), which was based on several years of research on Latino/Hispanic identity constructions and rock music as a discursive phenomenon.

Some of his research articles have appeared in scholarly journals such as: 

• The Journal of Intercultural Communication Research
• The Popular Culture Studies Journal
• The Journal of International & Intercultural Communication
• The Journal of Popular Music Studies
• The Review of Communication
• The International Journal of Cultural Studies
• The Communication Review
• Popular Music and Society
• Communication Quarterly
• The Journal of Women & Language
• Chapter & Verse
• and others

 Other research has appeared as book chapters (e.g., in Radio Cultures and in Somos de un(a) Voz?: New Directions in Latin@ Communication). Meanwhile, developing research includes the analysis of popular songs about tamales, MLB baseball & Spanish-language radio, and the use of music soundtracks in film.

At Texas-El Paso, Prof. Avant-Mier is currently teaching courses such as (a.) Communication & Popular Culture Theory, (b.) Film Theory & Criticism, (c.) Chicano Cinema, (d.) Cinematic Directors: Pedro Almodóvar, (e.) Critical LatinX Studies, and others.

Prior to his academic career, Roberto Avant-Mier served in the U.S. Marines as a linguist/translator, “radio man,” recon marine, & parachutist, and he was honorably discharged at the rank of sergeant in 1994. In addition to his university career, he has taught Spanish to English-speaking children in Utah, and taught English to Spanish-speaking adults in West Texas.

Contact Info:

Roberto Avant-Mier, Ph.D.
Cotton Memorial, #304.
Dept. of Communication
ravantmier@utep.edu
(915) 747.6588