Cynthia Cortez is a college and distance educator who has taught face-to-face and distance learning for fourteen years. She taught at St. Philip's College and will begin teaching at San Antonio College and Sul Ross University starting in Fall 2024.

Cynthia is ABD from New Mexico State University (NMSU) in Curriculum and Instruction with a specialization in Social Justice Education. She has an MA in Bilingual-Bicultural Studies from The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) and a BA in History from The University of Texas at Pan America (UTPA). 

Cynthia has taught Mexican American History I (2327), Mexican American History II (2328), History of U.S I (1301) and History of the U.S. II (1302), Humanities I (1301), Humanities II (1302), Introduction to Mexican American Studies (1305), Mexican American Fine Arts (1311), World Civilization I (2321), World Civilization II (2322), American Minorities (2319) and World Cultures (2323) courses. 

Cynthia was previously the Projects Coordinator for the National Association of Latino Arts and Culture. She was responsible for:

• Coordinated, implemented, and directed a yearly National Conference that convened over 300 Latino artists and arts administrators nationally and internationally,
• Coordinated, implemented, and directed an annual Leadership Institute that trained 15-20 participants in arts administration,
• Assisted in the coordination and implementation of development work, such as grants writing, conduct research of foundations, corporations, and arts agencies, and creating budgets, for all projects,
• Coordination and implementation of advisory committee meetings, special events and premiers of NALAC and Hector Galan’s television documentary Visiones that aired on PBS in the fall of 2003. 

Cynthia was also an Ethnographic Field Researcher for the Smithsonian Institute Center for Folklife Programs and Cultural Studies. As an Ethnographic Field Researcher, I was responsible for:

• Interviewing local artisans for possible participants in the American Folklife Festival in Washington D.C.,
• Recording ethnographic research along the Lower Rio Grande Valley for the Rio Bravo/ Rio Grande River Basin Program,
• Initiating, designing, and coordinating all creative elements in the development of the final field work report including the utilization of a diverse media: video, audio, and photography.

The program was featured in the Smithsonian Institute’s 1998 American Folklife Festival in Washington D.C.