Gene Diaz
Professional Title: Associate Professor
Areas of Academic Focus and Expertise:
Arts integration in education; qualitative research methods, especially arts-based research and ethnography; curriculum studies; creativity; accreditation.
Area of Work and Concentration at Lesley: Creative arts in learning; intercultural relations; research methods; creative process.
Representative List of Recent Courses Taught:
Curriculum, Assessment and Instruction: Visions and Versions; Dimensions and Methods of Cultural Exploration I and II; Arts-based Research.
Education: Ph.D., M.Ed., University of New Orleans; B.S., San Diego State University.
Representative List of Recent Publications / Exhibitions:
Publications
Diaz, G. (in press). Foreword. In The Left-Handed Curriculum, McDermott, M., Charlotte, NC: Information Age Press.
Diaz, G., Poey, V., Smiley, S., Weber, N. (in press) Artful Science. Huntington Beach, CA: Shell.
Diaz, G. (in press). Synchronicity and Wonder in Mexico. Journal of Pluralism, Pedagogy and Practice. Cambridge, MA: Lesley University.
Diaz, G. & Donovan, L. (2012). At the Crossroads of Arts, Teaching and Inquiry. In A century of innovation: Lesley University. Brown, C.F. & Forinash, M. (Eds.). Baltimore, MD: PublishAmerica.
Diaz, G. & McKenna, M.B., (2011). Creative Process as Pedagogy. Proceedings of the International Studies in Arts Education Conference, Budapest, Hungary.
Diaz, G. (2010). Agradecida. In Dear Maxine Letters: An unfinished conversation, R. Lake, Ed. New York: Teachers College Press.
Diaz, G. (2006). Creating Connections, Shaping Culture: Artist Teachers in Urban Contexts. In Urban Education: An Encyclopedia edited by Joe Kincheloe, Philip Anderson, Karel Rose, Derrick Griffith, and Kecia Hayes. Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group.
Dennis, S.M., Diaz, G., McKenna, M.B. (2006). The Curriculum Guide: Make Way for Ducklings for Narrator and Orchestra. Boston: Boston Landmarks Orchestra.
Diaz, G., Donovan, L., Pascale, L. (2006). Integrated Teaching through the Arts, Proceedings of the UNESCO World Conference on Arts Education, Lisbon, Portugal.
Diaz, G. & Sierra, Z. (2005). Playing for Real: Drama in Colombian Schools. Journal of Pluralism, Pedagogy and Practice. Cambridge, MA: Lesley University.
Diaz, G. (2005). Foreword. In K. Post-Rowe’s Mindfulness for Teachers and Students. Portland, ME: Five Seeds.
Diaz, G. and McKenna, M. B. (Eds.) (2004) Teaching for Aesthetic Experience: The Art of Learning. New York: Peter Lang.
Diaz, G. (2004). Experiencing the Moment. In G.Diaz and M.B.McKenna (Eds.) Teaching for Aesthetic Experience: The Art of Learning. New York: Peter Lang.
Diaz, G. (2002). Artistic Inquiry on Lighthouse Hill. In M.B. Cancienne and C.A. Bagley (Eds.) Dancing the Data. New York: Peter Lang.
Invited presentations
Reconocimiento y evaluación de la creatividad en nuestras/os alumnas/os III Modulo en el Diplomado en Innovaciones y Prácticas Pedagógicas en Educación Superior. Instituto de Estudios e Investigaciones Educativas (IEIE), (III Module of the Diploma in Innovation and Practice in Higher Education) Universdidad Distrital, Bogota, Colombia. August, 2012.
El Proceso Creativo como Pedagogía III Congreso Internacional y VIII Nacional de Investigación en Educación, Pedagogía y Formación Docente. Bogotá, Colombia. August, 2012.
Donde esta la acción en investigación acción? Research seminar in Foreign Languages, Universidad de Antioquia, Medellín, Colombia, October, 2007.
El Arte de la Pedagogía.Conferencia de Redes Artísticas de Medellín (Artistic Networks of Medellín). Colombia, October, 2007.
The Power of the Image: Developing Critical Visual Literacy for English Language Teaching. English Language Teaching Conference. Centro Colombo Americano, Medellín, Colombia, September, 2007.
A Community of Recognition. Keynote address for the State of the Arts Leadership in Education Conference, Sacramento, California, May 2007.
Integrating the Arts into Teaching Across Cultures. 13th Annual English Language Teaching Conference. Centro Colombo Americano, Medellín, Colombia, August, 2002.
Gene Diaz is a visual artist and ethnographer who teaches courses in curriculum, ethnographic research methods, and arts based research. Her presentations on research methods and arts integrated curriculum at national and international conferences explore intersections between the arts, aesthetics and teaching/learning. In August 2012 she offered the keynote address in the area of Creativity, Expression and the Body at the III International Congress on Research in Education, Pedagogy and Teaching Training (III Congreso Internacional y VIII Nacional de Investigación en Educación, Pedagogía y Formación Docente) in Bogotá, Colombia. In April 2010 she collaborated with poet and dancer Celeste Snowber in a multimedia offering, Waves of Wonder: A Pedagogy of Curiosity at the American Association for the Advancement of Curriculum Studies.
In 2002 Gene spent six months in Medellin, Colombia as a Fulbright Scholar, collaborating in research and teaching in the faculty of education at the Universidad de Antioquia. She collaborated with DIVERSER coordinator, Zayda Sierra, in research on young children's perspectives of their lives in communities, home and schools through the use of dramatic play activities. An article about this research, Playing for Real: Drama in Colombian Schools, can be found on the Journal of Pedagogy, Pluralism and Practice, Issue 9, on the Lesley website. She has returned to Colombia on several occasions, most recently to Medellin in 2007 to conduct research on DESEARTE PAZ, an arts and pedagogy network of organizations working towards establishing a culture of peace in the region.
Gene is a member of the Editorial Boards of the Journal of Curriculum and Pedagogy, the Colombian Applied Linguistics Journal, and the Editorial Advisory Board of the International Journal of Education and the Arts. She is co-editor, with Martha McKenna, of Teaching for Aesthetic Experience (Peter Lang, 2004). With McKenna she also created the Curriculum Guide for Make Way for Ducklings for Narrator and Orchestra, an orchestral musical offering by Daniel Pinkham to accompany the popular book by Robert McCloskey. The development of this guide was supported by the Boston Landmarks Orchestra.