Dr. Thomas Jesús Garza

Dr. Thomas Jesús Garza

Dr. Thomas Jesús Garza is a University Distinguished Teaching Associate Professor in the Department of Slavic and Eurasian Studies, Director of the Texas Language Center, and was Director of the Arabic Flagship Program (2015-2018) at the University of Texas at Austin. He also serves as an Affiliated Faculty in the Program in Comparative Literature, Mexican American and Latina/o Studies, and Middle Eastern Studies. Dr. Garza teaches Russian language and literature at all levels, language pedagogy, and courses in Russian cultural studies. He has traveled to and researched Russia since 1979 and lived in Moscow for over five years.  
 
During his 32-year tenure at the University of Texas at Austin, Dr. Garza has received numerous prizes for undergraduate and graduate teaching, including the Texas Excellence Award, the President's Associates Award, and the Harry Ransom Award. He was inducted into the University Academy of Distinguished Teachers in 2003, selected for a Regents Outstanding Teaching Award in 2009, and chosen as a “Texas 10” professor in 2018. His current research is on inclusive and equitable language instruction and cultural portraits of machismo in contemporary Russian and Latino cultures. Dr. Garza received his doctorate in Education, on Teaching, Curriculum, and Learning Environments from Harvard University in 1987, M.A. in Slavic Languages and Literatures at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, M.A. in Russian Language and Literature at Bryn Mawr College, and B.A. magna cum laude in Russian Language and Literature, at Haverford College.