Amy is a PhD student in Literacy, Culture, & Language Education at Indiana University and an associate instructor, teaching reading research and methods courses to pre-service teachers.  As a rural community resident and researcher, she is a former middle school English as a New Language (ENL) teacher and language arts teacher. She also taught English in Eastern Europe. Her research on rural students as activists in the New Latino Diaspora confronts stereotypes of a homogenous rural Midwest and seeks to disrupt the discourse surrounding rural youth.