Richard Flores works in the areas of critical theory, performance studies, semiotics, and historical and cultural anthropology. Prior to graduate school he worked in Houston and San Antonio where he was involved in founding and teaching in schools for undocumented Mexican children. He has extensive experience in the area of curriculum development and international studies, particularly in Latin America and the Middle East.

Flores developed the College of Liberal Arts Global Initiative for Education and Leadership, a consortium of UT and partner units aimed at delivering educational and leadership training abroad.

Flores is the author of "Remembering the Alamo: Memory, Modernity, and the Master Symbol" (University of Texas Press, 2002), "Los Pastores: History and Performance in the Mexican Shepherd’s Play of South Texas" (Smithsonian Institution Press, 1995), editor of Adina De Zavala’s, "History and Legends of the Alamo" (Arte Público Press, 1996). He has published in American Ethnologist, Cultural Anthropology, The Journal of American Folklore, and a recent book chapter in "Latino Cultural Citizenship" published by Beacon Press.