Professional Staff – Mark R. Martell
Mark R. Martell, Ph.D. Heading link
Executive Director of AARCC and Co-PI of the UIC AANAPISI Initiative
Faculty Fellow at the UIC Honors College, Affiliated Faculty at the UIC Global Asian Studies Program, Adjunct Assistant Professor at the UIC College of Education
Pronouns: He/Him/His/Himself/Siya/Kanya
Contact
Office Phone: (312) 413-7696
Email: mmartell@uic.edu
About
Dr. Mark R. Martell became the director of the UIC Asian American Resource and Cultural Center in January 2015. He began his career in higher education, in 2000, at UIC Campus Housing. After, he worked for Semester at Sea and for Inspiration Corporation. In 2005, he returned to UIC to work at the Student Employment Office and recently at the Office of Career Services. In the past, he has served as Co-Chair for the Chancellor’s Committee on the Status of Asian Americans and has served on various campus organizations including AARCC’s Advisory Board. In addition to participating in a number of Chicago’s Asian American, LGBTQ, and theatre organizations, Mark has taught at Harold Washington College and presently teaches for the UIC College of Education, Honors College, and Global Asian Studies Program. Mark earned his PhD in educational policy studies at UIC, and his research explored the racialized experiences of UIC Asian American students and the effects on their student success. Mark is also co-principal investigator for the UIC Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institutions Initiative, where he assisted in facilitating grant programs and assisted in teaching courses. For the UIC Honors College, he teaches Superheroes and Cultural Mythology and Comics & Society. For UIC Global Asian Studies, he teaches Asian American and Pacific Islander College Student Experiences and the GLAS 495 Internship Practicum. For the UIC College of Education, he teaches the graduate course Student, Diversity, Access, and Equity in Urban Higher Education.
Mark is a 1.5 generation Filipino American who grew up in Miami, Florida. He uses “he” pronouns and the gender neutral and inclusive Filipino pronouns “siya” and “kanya.”
Selected Publications
“From Invisible to Invincible: Asian American Superheroes In Comics” in the Journal of Comics and Culture (Pace University Press, 2021)
“Narrative Approaches to Exposing the Racialized Experiences of Asian American Male Students” in Teaching to Close the Achievement Gap for Students of Color (Routledge, 2020)
“Challenges Facing Asian Americans in Higher Education. In Scarborough, W., Lewis, A. E., & Arenas, I. (Eds). A Tale of Diversity, Disparity, and Discrimination: The State of Racial Justice for Asian American Chicagoans. (UIC Institute for Research on Race and Public Policy, 2018)