Ishara Casellas Connors

Professional Experience

ACADEMIC & RESEARCH APPOINTMENTS

Texas A&M University

Assistant Professor (2021 - present)

Bush School of Government and Public Service

Department of Public Service & Administration

Affiliated Faculty, Latino/a and Mexican American Studies

Assistant Dean for Diversity & Climate (2018-2021)

College of Geosciences

Tufts University

Associate Director (2015 - 2018)

Institute for Democracy & Higher Education

EDUCATION

Boston College, Lynch School of Education

Ph.D. Higher Education, 2020

Dissertation: Examining Racial Discourse in Diversity Policies at Hispanic Serving Institutions

Committee: Ana M. Martínez Alemán (Chair), Andrés Castro Samayoa, Gabrielle Oliveira

Columbia University, Teachers College

M.A. Higher and Postsecondary Education

Clark University

B.A Business Management

PUBLISHED PAPERS

Casellas Connors, I., Unangst., L., Evans, K. (2025). Navigating the Tension: US Refugee Resettlement Agency Support of Postsecondary Access. Journal of Refugee Studies. https://doi.org/10.1093/jrs/feae086

Casellas Connors, I., Evans, K., Unangst, L., Chunga-Pizarro, S.* (2025). Reframing Higher Education for Refugees: Pathways, Policies, and Community Cultural Wealth. Journal of Higher Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/00221546.2025.2463856

Casellas Connors, I. & Feik, H.* (2024). Communicating Social Justice in the Public Sphere: The Case of Public Higher Education. Public Management Review. https://doi.org/10.1080/14719037.2024.2442582

Casellas Connors, I. (2024). Disrupting the Narrative: Afro-Latin Americans Across U.S. Higher Education. Higher Education: Theory of Handbook and Research. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-51930-7_5-1

Casellas Connors, I. & Gonlin, V. (2024). Complicating Latiné experiences: Afro-Latiné students’ perceptions of campus climate and sense of belonging. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education. https://doi.org/10.1037/dhe0000580

Casellas Connors, I. Unangst, L., Barone, N. (2024). Supporting displaced students: A Comparative Analysis of Institutional Supports. Race Ethnicity Education. http:/doi.org/10.1080/13613324.2023.2192947

Casellas Connors, I. (2023). Racial Diversity in the Geosciences: Engaging Community Cultural Wealth for Success. 29 (2). Journal of Women and Minorities in Science and Engineering.

Casellas Connors, I. (2022). Examining racial discourse in equity reports: Florida’s public Hispanic serving institutions. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 30, (29). https://doi.org/10.14507/epaa.30.5955

Unangst, L., Casellas Connors, I., & Barone, N. (2022). State-Based Policy Supports for Refugee, Asylee, and TPS-Background Students in US Higher Education. Refuge: Canada’s Journal on Refugees, 38(1), 95–110. https://doi.org/10.25071/1920-7336.40819

Casellas Connors, I., & McCoy, H. (2022). Performing Anti-racism: Universities Respond to Anti-Black Violence. Race and Justice, 12(3), 588–613. https://doi.org/10.1177/21533687221101787

Unangst, L., Borg, N., Casellas Connors, I., & Barone, N. (2022). Diversities at US colleges and universities: Online diversity statements at institutions employing chief diversity officers. Journal of Higher Education Policy and Leadership Studies, 3(3), 16-36. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.52547/johepal.3.3.16

Casellas Connors, I. (2021). Constructing a monolith: State policy, institutional DEI plans, and the flattening of Latinx identity at Hispanic-serving institutions. AERA Open. https://doi.org/10.1177/23328584211063872

Arnold, K. D., & Casellas Connors, I. (2021). The ‘anti-Instagram’: Using visual methods to study the college experiences of underrepresented students. Visual Studies, 1-19.https://10.1080/1472586X.2021.1893612

MANUSCRIPTS UNDER REVIEW

Unangst., L., Casellas Connors, I., Evans, K. (revise & resubmit). Community Service Organizations and higher education for displaced learners in the US: Rethinking education development. Diaspora, Indigenous, and Minority Education

Casellas Connors, I., Daché, A., Feik, H.*, Juarez, D.*, Sun, J.* (revise & resubmit) Un pirámide: U.S. Afro-Latin American Cities and Student Campus Contexts in Florida’s Public Higher Education. Race Ethnicity and Education.

Casellas Connors, I. & Taylor, L. (under review) “How do we adapt?”: Enrollment and Institutional Responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Intended for The Journal of Higher Education.

Casellas Connors, I., Evans, K., Unangst, L., Chunga-Pizarro, S.* (under review) Administrative Burdens and Educational Aspirations: Understanding the Role of Refugee Resettlement Agencies and Higher Education Administrators Support in Refugee Education Access. Administration & Society

Casellas Connors , I., Wanzer-Serano, D., Rodriguez, M*. Uncovering Emergingness in Emerging Hispanic-Serving Institutions in the University of Texas System: A Discourse Tracing Analysis. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education

GRANTS & CONTACTS

2024 Serra, D., Casellas Connors, I., Cortes, K., Curruthers, C. (Co-PIs). Unlocking Opportunities: Facilitating Student Transfers from Two-to Four-Year College Through Coaching. J-PAL, $268,989

2023 Guneralp, I (PI), Wiedherwohl, C. (PI). Casellas Connors, I. (Co-I). Gulf Scholars Research Program. TAMU ENGAGE Gulf Scholars Program: Next Generation of Advocates for the Gulf Ecosystem. National Academy of Science. $624,997

2022 Casellas Connors, I. (PI), Unangst, L. Evans, K. (Co-PIs). Cultivating Refugee Access to Higher Education Across Maryland, District of Columbia, and Virginia. W.T. Grant Foundation $49,992.

2022 Evans, K (PI), Casellas Connors, I., Unangst, L. (Co-PIs). Access to Higher Education for Refugees in the MD/VA/DC area. University of Maryland, Office of Translational Research. $35,000.

2022 Casellas Connors, I. (PI), Wanzer Serrano, D. Discourse Tracing of Emerging Hispanic-Serving Institutions in the University of Texas System. Race and Ethnic Studies Institute, Texas A&M University. $9,960.

2021 Taylor, L.L.(PI), Casellas Connors, I. (Co-PI). Examining shifting enrollment across Texas community colleges: Administrative perspective navigating enrollment declines. Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. $480,000 ($12,000 for Co-PI).