About

Aureliano Maria DeSoto is Associate Professor of Ethnic Studies at Metro State University in Minneapolis-Saint Paul.

He is former Chair of the National Association for Chicana and Chicano Studies (NACCS) and has also served on the organization’s Board of Directors as Chair-Elect, Conference Program Chair, Immediate Past Chair, and At-Large Representative. He was also appointed to the Committee on the Literatures of People of Color in the United States and Canada of the Modern Language Association, where he was committee co-chair for two years.

DeSoto has broad teaching and service experience at a variety of different institutional types, including the small/selective liberal arts college, and Research 1, Research 2, and regional comprehensive universities. Subsequently, he has worked with and taught a variety of student constituencies, including non-traditional adult learners, New Americans, and traditional students at Predominantly White Institutions (PWIs), as well as students at Hispanic-Serving (HSI) and Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving institutions (AANAPISI).

At Metro State, he teaches Comparative Ethnic Studies and Gender Studies courses in the Department of Ethnic, Gender, Historical, and Philosophical Studies. He also serves as occasional faculty in the Master of Liberal Studies Program.

DeSoto specializes in online education and pedagogy, and has pioneered asynchronous online and hybrid preparations in Ethnic Studies and Gender Studies, as well as presented on the topic of online course development, pedagogy, design, and best practices at campus and regional gatherings and by invited lecture. He has completed advanced training seminars through the Center for Online Learning at Metropolitan State, including four Teaching Online Institutes and Quality Matters (QM) standards training, and has served multiple times as a QM course reviewer.

DeSoto’s intellectual interests and focal points include Critical University Studies, Chicana/o Studies, Lesbian and Gay Studies, and Comparative Ethnic Studies.