Jasmin Patrón-Vargas (she/her) is an interdisciplinary scholar anchored in Curriculum and Instruction and Ethnic Studies. Before joining Texas A&M University, she was the 2022-2023 CLAVE Postdoctoral Fellow at National Louis University. Born and raised in the predominantly Spanish-speaking community of La Villita in Chicago, Doctora Patrón-Vargas' scholarship addresses the growing need to support schools and educators implementing Ethnic Studies K-12 courses. She approaches this goal with two interrelated lines of inquiry: educational policy and pedagogy. Using critical policy perspectives, her first area of research explores the development of Ethnic Studies educational policies in the K-12 Social Studies curriculum. Her second area of research draws on interdisciplinary perspectives in Teacher Education and Chicano/Latino Studies to examine the adoption of Ethnic Studies curriculum and instruction in secondary schools. Together, these two research projects contribute to the collective vision of educational spaces that foster joy and self-determination through an Ethnic Studies lens.