Maria Dantas-Whitney joined the Division of Teacher Education at Western Oregon University in fall 2004. She teaches both graduate and undergraduate courses in second language acquisition, applied linguistics, language teaching methods/curriculum design, and cultural and linguistic diversity in education, in addition to directing graduate theses and projects.

Originally from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, she came to the U.S. to pursue a master's degree in TESL at Northern  Arizona University.  Prior to moving to Oregon in 1990, she taught ESL in Colorado and North Carolina. From 1990 to 2004 she taught ESL and teacher education courses at Oregon State University.

Maria completed her Ph.D. in Education at Oregon State University in 2003. She is the recipient of the 2004 AERA Outstanding Dissertation Award in Second Language Research and the TESOL/College Board Award for Teacher as Classroom Researcher.

In 2008-09, Maria was a Senior Fulbright Scholar at the Universidad Autónoma Benito Juárez de Oaxaca in Mexico, where she taught courses in the bachelor's program in TEFL and the master's program in Applied Linguistics, in addition to conducting ethnographic research at a local primary school.

At present she serves as Director for Project SPELL (Sustainable Practices for English Language Learners), a federally-sponsored partnership between Western Oregon University and two large public school districts in Oregon that offers professional development activities for teachers such as coursework, mentoring and guidance on classroom-based research.

Maria is a former president of Oregon TESOL and ORATE (Oregon Association for Teacher Educators), as well as past chair of TESOL's Intensive English Programs Interest Section. Currently she serves as a member of the Academic Committee of the International Symposium of Ethnographic Encounters with Children and Adolescents in Educational Contexts.

Maria’s research focuses on the intersection of language, culture and education, with particular emphasis on issues of identity and agency related to bilingualism/multilingualism and schooling. She is also interested in the development of critical cultural consciousness and critical pedagogical approaches in teacher education. Her research takes place mainly in classrooms, including her own. She utilizes qualitative methods such as ethnography, discourse analysis, case study and collaborative action research. She has published articles in the Bilingual Research Journal, System, TESOL Journal, ORTESOL Journal, MEXTESOL Journal, and Perspectivas Educativas, in addition to a number of book chapters. She is co-editor of Encuentros etnográficos con nin@s y adolescentes: Entre tiempos y espacios compartidos [Ethnographic encounters with children and adolescents: Between shared times and spaces] (2011, Miño y Dávila, with Milstein, Clemente, Guerrero & Higgins), Authenticity in the Language Classroom and Beyond (two volumes, 2009 and 2010, TESOL, with Rilling) and Intensive English Programs in Postsecondary Settings (2002, TESOL, with Dimmitt). She has also served as co-editor for TESOL's Classroom Practice Series, a 15-volume series of professional reference books (with Rilling and Savova).