Anthropology. Nuclear Policy. Rhetoric. Energy.
Rey Villanueva
Bio
A. Rey Villanueva is currently a doctoral candidate in Environmental Anthropology at the University of Texas at San Antonio. For the past decade, he has worked at the intersections of sociocultural anthropology, policy, and rhetorical studies to identify the ways in which local populations act and react to sudden changes within their nuclear energy environments. Previous research has focused on proposals for new reactors at the South Texas Project, responses to a large-scale earthquake with an epicenter within miles of the North Anna Nuclear Generating Station, as well as the policies and political realities connected to the uranium-production cycle within Argentina. These projects have allowed him to gain a broad range of experiences within nuclear anthropology in identifying the linguistic and rhetorical strategies used by the parties involved while pairing traditional ethnographic methodologies such as participant-observation to better understand the historical and social milieus connected to these choices both within the United States and abroad.
Education
PhD Anthropology
August 2012 - May 2022 (Expected)
Dissertation: Nuclear Communities: Understanding the Creation and Reaction to Nuclear Development at the Local Level Through Ethnographic and Social Network Analysis
M.A. Linguistics
August 2010 - May 2012
Focus: Anthropological Linguistics
B.A. Anthropology
August 2008 - August 2010
Major: Anthropology
Minors: Linguistics, ESL
Academic Teaching Experience
Lecturer I
Fall 2015; Summer 2017 - Present
University of Texas at San Antonio
Courses: Introduction to Anthropology
Teaching Assistant
Aug 2012 - May 2014; Spring 2016; Spring 2017
University of Texas at San Antonio
Courses: Introduction to Anthropology; Introduction to Cultural Anthropology; Language, Thought, and Culture; Ritual and Symbol; Folklore and Folklife
Prepared course materials for primary instructor including photocopying, grading, writing assignments and exam questions, proctoring exams, holding office hours, and guest lecturing when appropriate.
ESL Instructor
Summer 2012
ESL 915: English for Academic Purposes: Listening &Pronunciation
Center for American English and Culture
University of Virginia
Part of an intensive one-month program to incoming university students whose native language is not English. Helped participants develop the pronunciation of standard American English for both production and comprehension purposes. Covered topics including discourse markers, lecture organization, note taking, context and prediction, spotting main ideas, strategies for understanding and following lectures, and catching numbers and dates.
ESL Instructor
Aug 2011 - Aug 2012
ESL 801: Workplace Communication for English Language Learners
Center for American English and Culture
University of Virginia
Taught participants to improve oral and written communication in the workplace. Activities relate to the participants' work, either the Observatory Hill Dining Hall, or the University of Virginia Hospital System. Goals include improving fluency, accuracy, and comprehensibility to 30 participants with a wide range of English-language abilities.
ESL Instructor
Spring 2012
English for Classroom Communication
Bilingual Faculty Program
School of Continuing and Professional Studies
University of Virginia
Taught and addressed skills and strategies employed in US classrooms to 30 university faculty members from Jiangsu Province, China. Helps participants communicate more effectively by demonstrating their ability to convey content information from their field to undergraduate students in a comprehensible and appropriate manner.
Academic Administrative Experience
Program Coordinator
Aug 2011 - Aug 2012
Center for American English and Culture
University of Virginia
Coordinates various activities for outreach and courses for international students. Duties including: collaboration with departments across campus in order to provide comprehensive English-language training; event planning; maintain databases on all former and current international students; and creating reports in order to make course recommendations on future training.
Program Coordinator
Aug 2011 - May 2012
Bilingual Faculty Program
School of Continuing and Professional Studies
University of Virginia
Monitored and facilitated two Bilingual Faculty Programs in collaboration with the University of Virginia’s School of Continuing and Professional Studies and Triway International Group. Duties including working with course instructors, communicating with faculty and staff in the University Community, managing curricula, and resolving issues brought by visiting Chinese scholars. Advised (2011) and later assumed management duties of 15 assistants (2012).
Assistant Director
Aug 2011 - Aug 2012
Volunteers with International Students, Scholars, and Staff
University of Virginia
Related to the position of Program Coordinator at the Center for American English Language Culture. Directed, administered, and advised the organization to bring a variety of related ESL-related programs to better serve the international community at the University of Virginia. Programs included Language Consultants, ESL Workplace Assistants, ESL Assistants, Classroom Communication Assistants, and Teaching Consultants, totaling over 200 volunteers from and for all parts of the University community.