José Manuel Flores
Email: josemafl@ttu.edu
Dr. José Manuel Flores is a Ph.D. in Rhetoric and Composition from The University of Texas at El Paso and a Mellon Research Scholar with the Latinx Sound Cultures Studies group, established in 2022 through the Crossing Latinidades Humanities Initiative and the Andrew Mellon Foundation. Born and raised on the U.S.–Mexico border between Ciudad Juárez and El Paso, he is an interdisciplinary scholar with expertise in Latinx cultural studies, sonic autoethnography, digital humanities, and immersive UX design. His research explores how soundscapes shape identity, memory, and cultural resilience in the U.S.–Mexico borderlands through qualitative methods, GIS, and digital archiving.
His work bridges Digital and Visual Rhetorics, Design Thinking, and Sound Studies, approaching sound both as an expressive medium and as an archive of place, identity, and memory. Committed to public scholarship and inclusive mentoring, he produces multimodal, community-engaged work that amplifies Latinx voices and contributes to cultural preservation. His current projects include advancing The Border Soundscapes Project, developing immersive digital experiences that combine sound mapping, GIS technologies, and cultural rhetorics, and examining how border soundscapes preserve intangible cultural heritage while informing broader conversations in Latinx cultural research.
Ph.D., The University of Texas at El Paso (2024)
Website: www.floresfuentes.com
Publications
Peer-Reviewed | Book Chapters
Flores Fuentes, José Manuel. 2025. Sonorous Spectacle: Unveiling the Sonic Cultural Significance of Lucha Libre at the US-Mexico Borderlands. Casillas, Inés, Hinojos Verónica & Díaz-Martin, Esther (Eds.) In Latinx Sound Studies. University of California, Santa Barbara. In progress
Flores Fuentes, José Manuel. 2017. The speech of the other gaze: Configuration of the Canal Once TV Mexico promotional campaign signs. García, Rutilio, Valdivia, Benjamin & Bailleres, Jaime (Eds.) In La Imagen de lo Imposible, (pp. 130-165). Universidad de Guanajuato and Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez. ISBN: 978-1-938038-06-8
Balderrama Armendariz, Cesar and Flores Fuentes, José Manuel. 2016. Academic research and television bumpers made in Mexico: Mechanisms and strategies to persuade audiences. Gil Flores, Hugo & Ariza, Verónica (Eds.) In Objetos Creados: Estudio desde el Arte, el Diseño y la Educación. (pp. 219-237). Universidad de Guadalajara. ISBN: 978-607-742-446-8
Peer-Reviewed | Journal Articles
Flores Fuentes, José Manuel and Casillas, D. Inés. 2023. "Echoes in Transit: Loudly Waiting at the Paso del Norte Border Region" Sounding Out. Digital Journal. September 11, 2023. ISSN 2333-0309 (Top 1 most read article in Sounding Out! of 2023)
Flores Fuentes, José Manuel and Durá, Lucia. 2021. “The Border Soundscapes Project.”Kairos: A Journal of Rhetoric, Technology, and Pedagogy 26(1). (Best Webtext Award at the Computers and Writing Conference in 2022)
Peer-Reviewed | Public Scholarship
“The Rhetoric of Music”First-Year Composition Handbook, ed. Lauren Rosenberger. The University of Texas at El Paso. Hayden-McNeil, Macmillan Learning. 2025
“Sounding the Self”First-Year Composition Handbook, ed. Lauren Rosenberger. The University of Texas at El Paso. Hayden-McNeil, Macmillan Learning. 2025
“Listening for Justice”First-Year Composition Handbook, ed. Lauren Rosenberger. The University of Texas at El Paso. Hayden-McNeil, Macmillan Learning. 2025
“Sound Rhetoric: Writing Pedagogies Through Sound.”First-Year Composition Handbook, ed. Lauren Rosenberger. The University of Texas at El Paso. Hayden-McNeil, Macmillan Learning. 2024
Awards and Honors
2023-2024. Outstanding Thesis and Dissertation Award. College of Liberal Arts. The University of Texas at El Paso2024. Dodson Research Grant. Graduate School. The University of Texas at El Paso
2024. Scholars for the Dream Travel Award CCCC. National Council of Teachers of English
2024. Hunter Strauss Fellowship. College of Liberal Arts. The University of Texas at El Paso
2023. Dissertation Completion Fellowship. College of Liberal Arts. The University of Texas at El Paso
2022-2023. CGS Humanities Coalition Grant Writing Project (peer mentor). Graduate School. The University of Texas at El Paso
2022. Mellon Fellowship: Crossing Latinidades Humanities Research Initiative. University of Illinois at Chicago
2022. Best Webtext Award. Flores & Dura (2021) "The border soundscapes project: Pursuing border identity through sound." Computers and Writing Conference
2021-2022. CGS Humanities Coalition Grant Writing Project (writing fellow). Graduate School. The University of Texas at El Paso
2020. Dorrance D. Roderick Summer Fellowship. College of Liberal Arts. The University of Texas at El Paso
2018. Promising New Scholar Diana Natalicio Award. College of Liberal Arts. The University of Texas at El Paso
2015. Summa Cum Laude, Master's Dissertation Defense. Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez (MX)
2013-2015. Graduate National Program Full Scholarship. CONACYT (Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología)
Department of English
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Address
P.O. Box 43091 Lubbock, TX 79409-3091 -
Phone
806.742.2501 -
Email
english@ttu.edu