Dr. Toni Viva Muñoz is an author, educator, U.S.–Mexico Borderlands scholar, and life/residential designer whose work explores identity, cultural memory, and the meaning of home. A member of the Chihene Ndé (Apache) Nation of New Mexico and a ninth-generation daughter of the Borderlands, she draws inspiration from the landscapes, languages, and multigenerational stories of the region where she grew up.

 She is the author of El Bowie Bakery and My Name in Brown, published by TCU Press. Combining scholarly inquiry with creative storytelling, her children’s books invite readers to consider the connections between family, place, heritage, and belonging. Through words and images, she shares stories rooted in the Borderlands while opening space for children and adults to reflect on their own identities.

 Toni earned her Ph.D. in literature in 2021, with concentrations in pedagogy of the oppressed, U.S. Latinx literature, and U.S.–Mexico Border studies. Her dissertation brought historical and cultural research into conversation with autoethnography and visual storytelling. Central to that work was “double hybridization,” her framework for examining the layered identities shaped by generations of life along the Border.

 At The University of Texas at Dallas, she served as a Visiting Assistant Professor, teaching Border literature, creative writing, autoethnography, and Latinx identity, politics, and culture. She now teaches college writing and world literature at the University of North Texas at Dallas, encouraging students to recognize the value of their experiences and develop their voices as writers.

 Her scholarly and creative work has appeared in publications including Borders in Globalization Review and Columbia Journal. In 2020, she received the Blue Mesa Review Nonfiction Prize for “Border Sisters.” She has also presented her research internationally, including at conferences in Spain and Poland.

 Before entering academia, Toni moved to New York City at sixteen after winning the National Hispanic Modeling Contest. Her fashion career included work with Oscar de la Renta, Chanel, and Roberto Cavalli; appearances in Harper’s Bazaar, Elle, and Marie Claire; and national advertising campaigns. That career helped her finance her education and introduced her to the possibilities of visual storytelling.

 Her commitment to community led her to found Model Behaviors in 2012, bringing friends and collaborators together to support women and children. The organization’s work has included large public community events, fundraising, and access to mammograms for underserved women.

 Alongside her writing and teaching, Toni works in residential design and general contracting. Her approach begins with the people who inhabit a space—their histories, daily rituals, and hopes for how they want to live. Across her creative pursuits, she is drawn to the ways stories and spaces can bring people together.

 Toni lives in Dallas with her daughters, Darlington and Tennyson. Among her greatest joys are their RV road trips, discovering new places together, and making memories along the way.