She is passionate about providing students with a culturally and linguistically affirming education and opportunities to connect their education with their lived experiences, and recover their experiences and stories and those of their familias and communities. She uses literature, art, music and comedy as tools to guide students through the process of recovery which often happens through testimonio, oral history and digital story-telling. her research is grounded in the same concepts. In addition, this year, Dr. Alvarez was selected to receive the Outstanding Latino/a Faculty in Higher Education (Teaching Institutions) Award from the American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education (AAHHE).