B.A.: English, 1969, Southern Illinois University
Ph.D.: Cultural and Psychological Studies in Education, 1982, University of Nebraska Lincoln
Office: UW1 332
Phone: 425.352.5415
Email: dianegil@u.washington.edu
Mailing: Box 358530, 18115 Campus Way NE, Bothell, WA 98011-8246
I love teaching in an interdisciplinary program because I can examine, with my students, interesting social and psychological phenomena from multiple perspectives. Shared explorations of such topics create a dynamic learning environment for me and I hope for my students. When possible, I use pedagogies that engage students personally with subject matter. I want the ideas they study to matter deeply to them and to transform how they think about and act in the world. I try to get to know my students through learning their names, listening and attending to what they say in class, and responding fully to what they write. I also believe that the most significant learning often occurs in collaboration with one's peers. Genuine exchanges of ideas encourage reflective practice and intellectual growth, and so I use carefully designed small group exercises that allow students to test out their ideas and get feedback about their understanding of the course materials.
BIS 435 Interactive Learning: Theory and Practice
BIS 437 Narrative Psychology
BIS 490 Senior Seminar: Popular Education and Social Change
My research combines interactive learning, multicultural education, reflective teaching practices, and most recently human rights education. Since 1999, I have been involved, through The Washington Center for Improving the Quality of Undergraduate Education, in a state-wide cultural diversity project called Critical Moments. It is designed to enhance critical thinking in nontraditional college students when diversity is what is at issue in their lived educational experiences. With other IAS faculty and students, I conducted a series of qualitative and quantitative research studies on small groups in our interdisciplinary program. Finally, I spent my 2006-07 sabbatical in Senegal, West Africa, at Tostan, a nonprofit organization which practices community-led development. During my time in Senegal, I examined the role of human rights education in sparking the still growing grassroots social movements to end female genital cutting and early or forced child marriage in West and North Africa. I also wrote about these experiences for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
"Villagers Ending Female Genital Cutting," Seattle Post-Intelligencer, August 13, 2007.
"Villagers Agree to End Female Genital Cutting," Seattle Times, January 19, 2007.
"Undergraduates' Ambivalence about Leadership in Small Groups" (co-authored with Jason Roos and Charmell Slaughter). The Journal of Excellence in College Teaching, 17(3). 2006.
"University Students' Attitudes about Learning in Small Groups" (co-authored with Cinnamon Hillyard and Peter Littig). Active Learning. Forthcoming
"Misreading Charlie: Interpreting a Teaching Story Using Metaphor Analysis," McGill Journal of Education, 40(1). 2005.
"Critical Moments: A Case-Based Diversity Project that Engages and Enlivens Campus-Wide Efforts to Teach Inclusively" (with Gillies Malnarich and Tina Young). In M. Oulett (Ed.), Teaching Inclusively. Stillwater OK: New Forums Press. Fall 2005.
