Julie Amparano is a Teaching Professor, Canyon Voices literary magazine publisher and the coordinator for the Writing Certificate. She received her MFA in Creative Writing from Antioch University in Los Angeles and began teaching at Arizona State University in 2005 as a faculty associate. Serving in the School of Humanities, Arts and Cultural Studies, Amparano teaches scriptwriting, cross-cultural writing, fiction, persuasive writing, and other writing courses. She also is the publisher of Canyon Voices online literary magazine on the West campus.
In teaching writing courses, Amparano seeks to apply interdisciplinary and interactive techniques to help bring her students' words to life. Recently, she aligned her scriptwriting class with a directing course, allowing student directors to stage the work of the student writers in a two-night festival. Whether the writing is staged, read or printed, she pushes students to use their writing to engage and interact with their community. She has guided many students with their internships, independent studies and writing projects.
Her current writing projects include short stories, plays and nonfiction articles that explore issues of biculturalism and assimilation, in particular in the Mexican-American culture. Her most recent play, "A Mother's Will", was nominated for an ariZoni for best original script and overall production. The play also was a winner at the Arizona Women's Theater Co.'s Pandora Festival.
In addition to teaching, Amparano serves on the ASU’s Commission on the Status of Women. She is the chair-elect of the Hispanic Heritage Committee at the ASU West campus and she serves on several campus groups, including the Online Education Group Task Force, the Events Committee, the Oral History Research Cluster, and the Documentary Studies Organizing Committee. Off campus, she is a board member of New Carpa Theater and a member of the Association of Writers & Writing Programs, to name a few.
Education
M.F.A. Creative Writing, Antioch University, Los Angeles 2006
Julie Amparano. The Lost Boys/Girls: Past, Present and Future. Amnesty International Student Club at ASU (Oct 2013).
Julie Amparano and Julie Pearson. Process to Product: Creating Performances from Oral Histories. Southwest Oral History Conference: "Courage to Ask, Courage to Tell (Apr 2013).
Nalo Hopkinson and Caitlin Burns. The Future of Play: Communal Songs and Children’s Games. Emerge 2013 (Feb 2013).
Monica Casper. New approaches to trauma: Bridging theory and practice. Trauma Conference (Oct 2010).
KATHERINE NIGH, ASU Theatre and Performance of the Americas; AKUA DUKU ANOKYE, ASU Humanities, Arts and Cultural Studies. Documenting/Performing Trauma. Trauma Conference - New approaches to trauma: Bridging theory and practice (Oct 2010).
Gloria Cuadraz and C. Alejandra Elenes, co-chairs. Derechos Humanos: (Re)claiming Our Dreams Across Contested Terrains. Arizona MALCS Institute 2010 (Jul 2010).
Delia Salvatierra, Immigration Attorney; Isabel G. Garcia, Pima County Legal Defender; Dr. Luis Plascencia, Assistant Professor, ASU; Silvia Rodriguez, Artist. Human Rights, Education, and the Dream Act: Navigating the Shifting Terrains. Arizona MALCS Institute 2010 (Jul 2010).
Service
The Journal of Mujeres Activas en Letras y Cambio Social, ASU Colectiva/Collective (2014 - Present)