Biography
David Miguel Molina’s research is grounded in critical rhetorical and cultural studies, with emphases in social movements, political imaginaries, and the performativity of protest. In addition, his work pays particular attention to the conditions of collective identification and action in movements emerging out of or in conversation with 20th century black freedom struggles in the United States.
In the classroom, Molina pairs learner-centered course design with an active facilitation of critical inquiry and inter-community dialogue. Above all, he seeks a pedagogy that balances rigor and contingency: planning and instruction provides a climate for student growth, and it is through the active, shared negotiation of these conditions that learning takes place. For this negotiation to be learner-centered, it must be scaffolded through clearly articulated objectives and methods that actively prioritize practice, reflection, and feedback. To be grounded in inquiry and dialogue, teaching should invoke a shared conversation rooted in common purpose and mindful of the ways positionality and power operate in the classroom.
Publications
- David Miguel Molina, “‘Our Boys, Our Bonds, Our Brothers’: Pauli Murray and the Washington DC Sit-ins, 1943-1944” in Like Wildfire: The Rhetoric of the Civil Rights Sit-ins, edited by Sean O’Rourke and Lesli Pace (University of South Carolina Press), forthcoming.
- David Miguel Molina and PJ Blount, “Bringing the Moon the Mankind: The Civil Rights Narrative in the Space Age” in NASA and the Long Civil Rights Movement, edited by Brian Odom and Stephen Waring, forthcoming.
- PJ Blount and David Miguel Molina, ““Bringing Mankind to the Moon: The Human Rights Narrative in the Space Age” in NASA and the Long Civil Rights Movement, edited by Brian Odom and Stephen Waring, forthcoming.
Courses Taught
- Public Speaking
- Theories of Rhetoric
- African American Rhetoric (Spring 2020)