Cyntoya McCall

Cyntoya McCall, from Niles, MI, received her BA from Michigan State University where she studied Spanish (Secondary Education) with a minor in Sociology. Since then, she has primarily worked in education, teaching Spanish and mentoring students. Cyntoya is a two-time recipient of the Fulbright ETA scholarship, and a former Resident Director of a study abroad program in Cali, Colombia. While there, she helped design and led a program that examines race, ethnicity, and identity, while centering the wisdom, history, and culture of Afro-Colombians. From living and working in Black communities in the U.S., Colombia, and Ecuador for over a decade, she developed a passion for connecting people from diverse communities of the African diaspora through language education. Cyntoya’s research interests include the formation and expressions of identity, particularly Black identities, in the Latin American context.

PUBLICATIONS
2023. “Centering Afro-Colombian Narratives by Exploring Critical Theories and the Complexities of Identity in Study Abroad.” With Diego Andrés Lugo-Vivas and Pedro León Cortés-Ruiz. In Voices from the South: Decolonial Perspectives in International Education, edited by Andrea Rizzotti and Héctor M. Cruz-Feliciano. The Forum on Education Abroad.