Faculty Directory
Raquel Muñiz
Associate Professor
Associate Professor, School of Law
Raquel Muñiz
J.D., Ph.D.
Contact
Campion Hall Room 226
Telephone: 617-552-2401
Email: raquel.munizcastro@bc.edu
Education
- Ph.D., Penn State University
- J.D., Penn State Law
- B.A., Texas A&M International University
Courses
Educational Law and Public Policy
Education Law for District Leaders
Law, Policy, and Politics of Higher Education in the (Inter)National Context
Law and Higher Education Seminar
Research Interests
Law and Education; Education Law and Policy; Civil and Children’s Rights; Use of Research in Law
Expertise
- Educational Leadership & Policy
- Equity and Social Justice
- Higher Education
Department
Profile
Dr. Muñiz’s research is grounded in examining oppressive power structures and the strategies to disrupt them in education. Specifically, she examines the ways in which racialization shows up at the intersection of law, policy, politics, and the culture of resistance. Through this racial equity-centered work, she seeks to inform educational equity discourse and scholarship. To do this, she employs a systems thinking lens that counters deficit narratives and centers the onto-epistemological perspectives of students of color as they experience and respond to oppressive power structures.
Select Publications
Muñiz, R. (2023). The need for educational research engagement with courts, public policy, and practice in a post-Dobbs era. Educational Researcher, 53(1), 59-65. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X231209969
Muñiz, R. (2023). A theory of racialized judicial decision-making. Michigan Journal of Race & Law, 28(2). https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4369753
Muñiz, R., Lewis, M. M., Tumer, T., & Kane, E. (2023). The story of DACA as told by “friends of the court”: The role of racialization, citizenship, and interest convergence in policy discourse. American Journal of Education, 129(3), 297-324. https://doi.org/10.1086/724305
Muñiz, R., Lewis, M. M., Cavanagh, G., & Woolsey, M. (2022). The social context of the law: A critical analysis of reliance interests in the Department of Homeland Security v. Regents of the University of California. Southern California Law Review, 95(4), 857-952. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4380738
Muñiz, R., & Barragán, S. (2022). Disrupting the racialized status quo in public exam schools?: Racial equity and white backlash in Boston Parent Coalition for Academic Excellence v. School Committee. Fordham Urban Law Journal, 49(5), 1043-1090. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4380729
Muñiz, R., & Hutcherson, N. (2022). The power of research evidence use in times of crisis: How the Klaassen v. Indiana University Court used extra-legal sources to ground litigants in social realities. West’s Education Law Reporter, 399, 435-461. https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4151084
Muñiz, R. (2021). Education law and policy in the time of COVID-19: Using a legal framework to expose educational inequity. AERA Open, 7(1), 1-18. https://doi.org:10.1177/23328584211054107.
Muñiz, R. (2020). Muddy sensemaking: Making sense of socio-emotional skills amidst a vague policy context. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 28(114), 1-38. https://doi.org/10.14507/epaa.28.5235
Muñiz, R. (2020). Rethinking social justice: Promoting SEL opportunities to achieve a more just society. Journal of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, 3(3), 1-24. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1252028
Muñiz, R. (2020). DACA through the critical system thinking (CST) lens: Unpacking racialization in administrative law. Yale Journal on Regulation: Notice & Comment, https://www.yalejreg.com/nc/daca-through-the-critical-systems-thinking-cst-lens-unpacking-racialization-in-administrative-law-by-raquel-muniz/
Select Grants
W.T. Grant Foundation Scholars Program Class of 2029. ($350,000). Strategies and conditions facilitating and hindering education law attorneys’ use of research evidence, PI.
The Spencer Foundation ($49,958). What’s the worth of a legal education today? Using normative case studies to examine Latinx students’ articulations of the value proposition of law schools across differently-institutions, Co-PI (w/Co-PI Dr. Andrés Castro Samayoa), 2019 – 2021.
AccessLex Institute & American Institutes for Research (AIR) ($49,978). What’s it all for? Exploring how Latinx students and university officials at differently-ranked law schools articulate legal education’s value through normative case studies, Co-PI (w/Co-PI Dr. Andrés Castro Samayoa), 2019 – 2020.
Outstanding Scholarly Legal Writing in the Field of Education Law
Associate Professor Raquel Muñiz was awarded the 2024 Steven S. Goldberg Award in recognition of her research titled, "Exploring litigation of anti-CRT state action: Considering the issues, challenges & risks in a time of white backlash," which appeared in "Syracuse Law Review." The award, presented by the Education Law Association (ELA), recognizes an outstanding piece of scholarly legal writing in the field of education law.
Raquel Muñiz selected for the William T. Grant Scholars Class of 2029
Lynch School Assistant Professor Raquel Muñiz has received a William T. Grant Foundation Scholar Award, which supports early-career development for promising researchers.