Monica Alfaro Rodríguez is a scholar and educator whose teaching and research explore
the history of political ideas and the ways they evolve across generations. She teaches
humanities and political theory in the Division of Liberal Arts, encouraging students to engage with ideas as living conversations that shape culture,
creativity and civic life. Her scholarship examines how political ideas, from the
Enlightenment through the Caribbean and Atlantic world, survive, mutate and remain
contested over time. Much of her work aligns to the concept of the Living Archive
— the ongoing conceptual argument each generation inherits and reworks.
Before joining UNCSA, she spent 15 years teaching discussion-based humanities and political theory courses for first-generation and nontraditional students at colleges and universities across Texas. Trained in the Cambridge School tradition of intellectual history, she brings a collaborative, inquiry-driven approach to the classroom that invites student artists to explore how enduring ideas continue to inform contemporary creative practice.
In teaching, the most generous intention is to midwife the ideas within our students' work. Artists know how to sit with difficulty; in class, together, we ask the questions that turn what our art knows toward civic contribution.
Monica Alfaro Rodriguez
Career Highlights
- Teaching appointments at Texas Woman’s University, Collin College, Dallas College and Tarrant County College
Publications
- Dissertation: “Listening Tenaciously: Politics, Languages, and Historiography in the Work of J.G.A. Pocock” (2021)
Honors, Awards & Recognitions
- Named to the Who’s Who Among Professors in American Universities and Colleges (2025)
Organizations
- Association for Political Theory
- Western Political Science Association
- American Political Science Association
Education
Ph.D. History of IdeasThe University of Texas Dallas