Professor
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
Teaching
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.
Recent Courses Taught
BIS 435 Interactive Learning: Theory and Practice
BIS 437 Narrative Psychology
BIS 490 Senior Seminar: Popular Education and Social Change
Research/Scholarship
My research combines interactive learning, multicultural education, reflective teaching practices, and most recently human rights education. From 1999-2005, I worked closely with the Washington Center for Improving the Quality of Undergraduate Education on a state-wide diversity project entitled Critical Moments. From 2002-2007 I conducted qualitative and quantitative research on small groups with other IAS faculty and IAS and Business students on the use of small groups in our interdisciplinary program. 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 how the introduction of democracy and human rights sparked the still growing grassroots social movements to end female genital cutting and early or forced child marriage in West and North Africa. In addition to a research article, I also wrote a brochure for Tostan and described its work for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
Research/Scholarship
“The Transformative Power of Democracy and Human Rights Education in Nonformal Education: The Case of Tostan” (co-authored with Molly Melching). Adult Education Quarterly. Forthcoming.
"Villagers Ending Female Genital Cutting," Seattle Post-Intelligencer, August 13, 2007.
"Villagers Agree to End Female Genital Cutting," Seattle Post-Intelligencer, January 19, 2007.
"University Students' Attitudes about Learning in Small Groups" (co-authored with Cinnamon Hillyard and Peter Littig). Active Learning. Forthcoming.
"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.
"Misreading Charlie: Interpreting a Teaching Story Using Metaphor Analysis," McGill Journal of Education, 40(1). 2005.