Additional information
by Alicia Fedelina Chávez (Author), Susan Diana Longerbeam (Author)
The key premise of the book is that deepening student learning and increasing retention and graduation rates requires teaching from a strengths based perspective that recognizes the cultural assets that students bring to higher education, and to their own learning.
Author Biography
Alicia Fedelina Chávez is Associate Professor in Educational Leadership and Policy at the University of New Mexico. She served as collegiate leader, student affairs professional, and faculty member in universities around the country. Her scholarship is centered in facilitating understanding and balance between cultural epistemologies and ways of being in professional practice. She works from a belief that higher education institutions and societies benefit from garnering the strengths of many peoples, cultures, and nations. Dr. Chávez is published in areas of culture and college teaching as well as identity and collegiate leadership. Her publications include a co-authored book on culture and college teaching, Web Based Teaching across Culture and Age (Springer, 2013), as well as two co-edited books on identity and leadership in higher education, Identity & Leadership: Informing our Lives, Informing our Practice (NASPA, 2013) and, Indigenous Leadership in Higher Education (Routledge, in press). Her academic journal articles include: Clan, Sage, and Sky: Indigenous, Hispano and Mestizo Narratives of Learning in New Mexico Context; Toward a Multicultural Ecology of Teaching and Learning; and Learning to Value the "Other" A Model of Diversity Development. Susan Diana Longerbeam is Associate Professor in Educational Psychology at Northern Arizona University, where she leads a graduate student affairs program. She served as a university health services director and interim dean of students at Oregon State University, and holds a Ph.D. in College Student Personnel from the University of Maryland, a masters in Health Services Administration from Antioch University, and a bachelors in Community Studies from the University of California, Santa Cruz. She served on the ACPA Commission on Professional Preparation and the NASPA Faculty Fellows and Council. Dr. Longerbeam's scholarship focuses on culture, campus climate and student success in higher education. Recent pub
