Dr. Raúl Alberto Mora (él/he/han/ele/il/on) is an award-winning scholar, researcher, and global advocate for education and literacy. He is an Associate Professor at the School of Education and Pedagogy at Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana (UPB) in Medellín, Colombia, where he teaches undergraduate and doctoral courses on bilingual education, discourse analysis, literacy, and critical theory. He currently holds the highest rank of Senior Researcher in Colombia, as designated by the Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation (Minciencias). He has served as a visiting professor, scholar, and guest lecturer at universities across Colombia, Poland, Mexico, Czechia, Brazil, the United States, Spain, and Norway.

research & Conceptual frameworks

Dr. Mora is recognized as a key scholar in Latin America for his work redefining literacy as both an epistemological and instrumental tool. At the Literacies in Second Languages Project (LSLP) Research Lab, which he founded and leads at UPB, he investigates how people learn languages in cities (The City-as-Literacy) and gaming communities (Language-as-Victory). His current research agenda explores critical approaches to English teaching in developing countries, the application of gamification theory to research design, the use of micro-writing strategies for extended academic discourse mentorship and appropriation, and the need for proactive, critical approaches to AI in language and literacy education. As a qualitative researcher, he is a proponent of polyangulation to conceive data collection and analysis, particularly within the collaborative research teams he mentors.

global presence & editorial leadership

With a truly global academic footprint, Dr. Mora has presented his work, both in person and virtually, at major events across Colombia, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, India, Indonesia, Norway, Spain, Switzerland, the United States, and Vietnam. His leadership in the field includes serving on the Board of Directors of the Literacy Research Association (2021–2024). He is a founding member of the Transnational Critical Literacies Network (TCLN) and has acted as an educational advisor to the Colombian Ministry of Education and the Colombian Fulbright Commission. He serves on the editorial review boards for the Journal of Literacy Research, Research in the Teaching of English, Critical Inquiry in Language Studies, Journal of Education, Language, and Ideology, Journal of Education for Multilingualism, How Journal (Colombia), and Crossroads: A Journal of English Studies (Poland). Furthermore, he has guest-edited special issues for the International Journal of Cultural Studies, Social Semiotics, European Journal of Humour Research, Pedagogies, and English Teaching: Practice and Critique.

scholarly publications

Dr. Mora has published his work extensively in premier peer-reviewed journals such as the Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, The ALAN Review, International Journal of Cultural Studies, Educational Media International, Journal of Language and Literacy Education, The Elementary School Journal, Research in the Teaching of English, and Literacy Research: Teaching, Method, and Practice. His co-edited and authored volumes include The Handbook of Critical Literacies (Routledge, 2021), Translanguaging and Multimodality as Flow, Agency, and a New Sense of Advocacy in and From the Global South (Routledge, 2024), and Reimagining Literacy in the Age of AI (CRC Press, 2025). He is also the editor of the forthcoming volume Understanding Second Language Users as Gamers: Language as Victory (Routledge, 2025), which features LSLP researchers as contributors, and co-editor of English Language Teacher Education in Latin America (Bloomsbury, 2026).

awards & ACademic recognition

Dr. Mora’s contributions have been recognized with several of the most prestigious honors in the field. He was named the 2019 winner of the Divergent Award for Excellence in Literacy in a Digital Age Research, recognizing his contributions as an international scholar, and the 2025 winner of the Divergent Publication Award for the same category. His research lab, LSLP, was the recipient of the 2023 Divergent Award for Excellence in Implementation. Additionally, he received the Clare de Silva Award from the Colombian Association of Teachers of English (ASOCOPI) for his contributions to ELT teaching and research in Colombia. A former Fulbright Graduate Scholar, Dr. Mora has been a member of the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi since 2009. He holds a B.A. in Modern Language Education from UPB, as well as an M.A. in Teacher Education and a Ph.D. in Language and Literacy from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

​He currently resides in and researches from Trondheim, Norway.

"For more details on teaching experience, specific publications, or research lines, 
​please visit the Teaching and Research sections of this site."

PHONETIC PRONUNCIATION

• rah-OOL al-BEHR-toh MOH-rah

INTRODUCTORY SCRIPT (FOR HOSTS AND MEDIA)

"Our guest today is Dr. Raúl Alberto Mora, a Senior Researcher and Associate Professor at Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana in Colombia. A globally recognized expert in critical, urban, and gaming literacies, Dr. Mora is the founder and chair of the award-winning Literacies in Second Languages Project (LSLP) Research Lab. His pioneering work explores the intersections of language learning in cities and gaming communities, alongside proactive, critical approaches to AI in education.
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A former high school English teacher, Fulbright scholar, former board member of the Literacy Research Association, Dr. Mora is a leading voice for Global South perspectives in literacy education. He is a two-time Divergent Award winner and a Clare de Silva award winner from the Colombian Association of Teachers of English. He has presented his research in over 12 countries across four continents and joins us today from Trondheim, Norway."

Dr. Mora is actively seeking to expand his transnational research networks and welcomes new collaborations, speaking engagements, and scholarly exchanges. Please check the Consulting and Contact sections of this website for further details.

areas of interest for collaboration

• Transnational Research: Collaborative studies involving Global South perspectives, urban literacies, or gaming and gamification in second language learning and teaching
• AI & Literacy: Joint projects exploring critical and proactive frameworks for AI in second language education.
• Guest Lectures & Workshops: Keynotes or seminars on Multimodal Conscientização (MCZ), Language-as-Victory (LaV), or qualitative research design (Polyangulation).
• Mentorship & Visiting Scholar Opportunities: Collaborative efforts involving the LSLP Research Lab and junior researchers.