About
David I. Hernández-Saca, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor in the Department of Special Education at the University of Northern Iowa (UNI). Dr. Hernández-Saca is a former 8-12 multi-subject teacher and his teaching responsibilities at UNI include undergraduate teacher preparation courses in the areas of post-school transition programming and special education law, assistive technology and advocacy and activism from a Disability Studies in Education (DSE) interdisciplinary and intersectionality approach. Dr. Hernández-Saca's research nucleus of his research agenda is problematizing the common sense assumptions of learning disabilities (LD).
Current Work
Dr. Hernández-Saca's three lines of inquiry include: (1) the emotional impact of LD labeling on conceptions of self. Dr. Hernández-Saca's second line of inquiry is (2) the role of emotion and affect in teacher learning about social justice issues. Dr. Hernández-Saca's third line of research is (3) examining violence within the academy against historically multiply marginalized and non-hegemonic scholars at their intersections of power and identities for their well-being and healing. What ties all three of his lines of inquiry together is his commitment to educational equity through an interdisciplinary research design and methodology. Overall, Dr. Hernández-Saca investigates these as they relate to historical equity issues in general education and special education and current movements for inclusive education at the boundaries of traditional special education and DSE.
Research Area Keyword(s)
Dis/Ability, Emotionality, Affect and Feelings, Ability and White Supremacy