Professional and Occupational Experience:
2005-present Department Chair of Government, Geographic Information Science, and Physical Education at Houston Community College, Southwest

1993-present Instructor at Houston Community College, Department of Government and Political Science. Courses taught: American Government, Honors American Government, Introduction to Political Science.

2001-present Assistant Department Chair, Houston Community College, Department of Government and Political Science.

1997-2003 Founder and Co-Director of Southwest College Service Learning Program, Houston Community College

1992-1993 1987-1990 Teaching Assistant, University of Kentucky, Department of Political Science. Courses taught: American Government and Politics, Introduction to World Politics, Introduction to Comparative Politics, Introduction to Third World Politics.

1990-1992 Lecturer at University of Houston, Department of Political Science. Courses taught: International Relations, American Government, Honors American Government.

1989 Instructor at Lexington Community College, Division of Social Science.

Publications
2001 - "Associations and Activism: Mobilization of Urban Informal Workers in Costa Rica and Nicaragua" in Jorge Dominguez, ed. Mexico, Central, and South America: The Scholarly Literature of the 1990s (New York: Garland).

Fall 1999 - "Civil Society, Political Parties, and Political Mobilization of Urban Informal Workers: Costa Rica and Nicaragua," Journal of Interamerican Studies and World Affairs 41 : 35-66 (With Charles L. Davis and Edwin E. Aguilar).

1997 - "The Urban Informal Economic Sector," pp. 265-280 in Thomas W. Walker, ed., Nicaragua without Illusions: Regime Transition and Structural Adjustment in the 1990s (Wilmington, Delaware: Scholarly Resources).

Fall 1991 - "The Psychological Bases of Regime Support among Urban Workers in Venezuela and Mexico: Instrumental or Expressive?" Comparative Political Studies 24, 3: 319-343 (With Charles L. Davis)

1996 - "The Personal is the Political: The Politics of Getting Involved," pp. 38-43 in Edmund Y. Herod and J Ramsey Sutter, eds., Dialogue of Democracy: A Politics Reader (Needham Heights, Maryland: Simon and Schuster).

Education
1987-1993 University of Kentucky. Political Science with major concentrations in Comparative Politics and International Relations, minor concentrations in Political Economy and Political Theory. MA and Ph.D. Summa Cum Laude

1983-1987 Pan American University, Edinburg, Texas. BA Magna Cum Laude in Political Science and History

Editorial Service
Referee for International Politics

Editor for textbook supplements, Pearson Education

Co-editor for online reader in American and Texas Government

Participation at Professional Conferences
Research Papers
1998 - "Civil Society and Mass Political Mobilization: The Urban Informal Sector in Costa Rica and Nicaragua." Paper delivered at the March 19-21 meeting of the Southwest Political Science Association, Corpus Christi, Texas (with Charles L Davis, Edwin E. Aguilar, and Michael Dawhare).

1997 - "Cross-Cultural Understanding in Comparative Research: Notes from a North American in Latin America." Paper delivered at the April 17-19 World Congress of the Latin American Studies Association, Guadalajara, Mexico.

1995 - "The Urban Informal Economic Sector." Paper delivered at the October 20-23 World Congress of the Latin American Studies Association, Washington, D.C.

1993 - "Religion as a Source of Political Polarization: The Case of the Urban Informal Sector in Nicaragua." Paper delivered at the April 15-17 meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association, Chicago, Illinois. (With Charles L. Davis.)

1992 - "Political Judgments and Informal Employment in Managua." Paper delivered to the March 18-21 meeting of the Southwest Political Science Association, Austin, Texas.

1991 - "Did They Vote with Their Stomachs? The Bases of Political Support in Managua?s Informal Sector." Paper delivered at the March 27-29 meeting of the Southwest Political Science Association, San Antonio, Texas.

1990 - "Motivational Bases of Political Support among Venezuelan and Mexican Workers." Paper delivered at the April 4-6 meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association, Chicago, Illinois. (With Charles L. Davis.) 1989 "The Urban Informal Economy in Nicaragua: Preliminary Observations." Paper delivered at the December 4-6 World Congress of the Latin American Studies Association, Miami, Florida. (With Kenneth M. Coleman.)

1989 - "The Urban Informal Economy in Nicaragua: Preliminary Observations." Paper delivered at the December 4-6 World Congress of the Latin American Studies Association, Miami, Florida. (With Kenneth M. Coleman.)

1989 - "Nicaraguan Political Participation, Socialism, and Democratic Theory: A Comparative Perspective." Paper delivered at the April 4-6 meeting of the Southwest Political Science Association, Little Rock, Arkansas.

1988 - "Perceptions of Social Justice among Industrial Workers: Venezuelan and Mexican Data." Paper delivered at the October 20-23 meeting of the Midwestern Association for Latin American Studies, Bloomington, Indiana.

Panel Chairperson or Discussant
1993 - "The Dynamics of Political Change at the Regional and Local Levels in Latin America." Discussant at the April 15-17 meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association, Chicago, Illinois.

1990 - "Mass Mobilization and Political Behavior in Latin America and the Caribbean." Panel chairperson at the April 4-6 meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association, Chicago, Illinois.

Grants, Fellowships, and Assistantships Awarded
1991 - National Science Foundation Grant for Doctoral Research in Political Science

1990 - The Graduate School, University of Kentucky Dissertation Year Fellowship

1990 - The Graduate School, University of Kentucky Summer Doctoral Fellowship

1989 and 1990 - Department of Political Science, University of Kentucky S. Sidney Ulmer Summer Fellowship (Summer 1990 declined)

1987-1991 & 1992-1993 - University of Kentucky Teaching Assistantships (1990-1991 declined)

Field Work and Travel Abroad
1991 - Two research trips to Nicaragua. Supervised survey of 480 workers within the urban informal economy of Nicaragua

1990 - Three months dissertation research in Nicaragua.

1989 - Field work in Nicaragua with Kenneth M. Coleman.

1986 - Field work in Nicaragua. Data collected for undergraduate honors thesis. Included interview with poet/priest and Minister of Culture Ernesto Cardenal.

1975-present - Three additional trips to Central America and more than a dozen trips to various regions of Mexico.

Languages
Spanish Good reading and speaking skills.

Portuguese Good reading skills.

French Rudimentary reading skills

Undergraduate Awards and Honors
1987 - Southwest Social Science Association: Best Undergraduate Paper in Political Science.

1985-1987 - Pan American University, Department of Political Science: Medrano Scholarship

1984-1987 - Pan American University Honors Program Scholarship

1986-1987 - Texas Intercollegiate Press Association Award for Best Columnist