Dr. Karla Britton

Dean of School of Arts & Humanities

Ph.D., Harvard, History of Architecture | M.A., Columbia University, Composition. Literature | B.A., University of Colorado, History

(928) 724-6958 | kmbritton@dinecollege.edu

Degrees: Ph.D. Harvard University, Architecture and Urban Planning; MA Columbia University, Comparative Literature; BA University of Colorado, Boulder, Intellectual History. Taught: Yale School of Architecture, 2003-2018; Columbia University School of Architecture & Planning (New York/Paris Program), 1996-2003; University of New Mexico, summers 2015-18. New to Diné College for 2018-19.My enthusiasm for teaching art history at Diné College is inspired by my work with students whose energies and visions bring them to a pursuit of art and design. It is grounded in my research and writing on regional identities, art and architectural culture, and sacred buildings and landscapes. I believe that the study and practice of art and architecture offers

Debra Robinson

Instructor

M.S., Ohio University, Journalism| M.A., Ohio University, Applied Linguistics/TESOL | B.F.A., Ohio University, Theater

(928) 724-6713 | drobinson@dinecollege.edu

Debra Robinson holds two master degrees from Ohio University, one in Applied Linguistics/TEFL and the other in Journalism. She was an NEH scholar at the Gaines Institute, University of Louisianna, Lafayette, Lousianna, and at the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities co-hosted by the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia. She was also a Harvard Teaching Fellow in the summer ESL program. In addition to her extensive teaching experience, Ms. Robinson is published as a features-writers in Portugal and the US. Her academic research appears in “Purgatory Between Kentucky and Canada: African Americans in Ohio,” (Chapter 3), Cambridge Scholars Publishing , Newcastle U.K., She also authored an illustrated volume of poetry….

Nonabah Sam

Adjunct Faculty

University of New Mexico

(928) 724-6981 | nsam@dinecollege.edu

Nonabah Brooke Sam is born into the Bit’ahnii (Folded Arms Clan) and born of German and Dutch decent. Her maternal grandfathers are of the Nii’naho’banii (Grey Streak Face Clan) and her paternal grandfather is of the Ts-tsu-geh Owingeeh (Tesuque Pueblo People).Nonabah serves as adjunct faculty in the School of Fine Arts, teaching Museum Internship. She joined Diné College in January 2012, serving as the college’s Museum Curator for the Ned Hatathli Museum. She received formal museum training, from the Institute of American Indian Arts, where she earned her Bachelor of Arts in Museum Studies. In 2011, she earned her Master of Arts from the University of New Mexico in Language, Literacy and Sociocultural Studies, with a…

Shaina A. Nez

Senior Lecturer

Ph.D. student, Arizona State University, Justice Studies | M.F.A., Institute of American Indian Arts, Creative Nonfiction | B.A., Fort Lewis College, English-Writing

(505) 368-6334 | shainez@dinecollege.edu

Shaina A. Nez is Táchii’nii born for Áshįįhi. She serves Diné College as a Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing and English. She is a doctoral scholar in Justice Studies with the School of Social Transformation and Social Inquiry at Arizona State University. She earned her MFA in Creative Nonfiction from the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Her creative work has appeared in The Massachusetts Review, Yellow Medicine Review, Chapter House Magazine, Nonwhite and Woman: 131 Micro Essays on Being in the World (Woodhall Press), Between Pleasure and Pain: An Authentic Voices Anthology (Sunday Dinner Publishing), and The Languages of Our Love: An Indigenous Love and Sex Anthology (Abalone Mountain Press). Nez is an…

Don Whitesinger

Associate Professor

M.A.T., Rhode Island School of Design | B.A., Arizona State University, Studio Arts | A.A., Institute of American Indian Arts, 2/D Art

(928) 724-6963 | dwhitesinger@dinecollege.edu

My art epitomizes my strength, control, and personality. As a contemporary abstract artist, I spontaneously create art for the sake of art. My work represents both the energy and life of my endeavors at Canyon de Chelly near Wild Cherry Canyon on the Navajo Nation. I think of the past of the Diné people and the modern art movements in the art world. I try to encourage students to think about the relationship of art, ecology, and their community. Art awareness of interdisciplinary connections, action oriented, and hopefully based on Diné social values. Living Art, tasting art, doing art is my life. I just have the credentials to teach Art. Art is your inner creative thought, that breath of life, that feeling that has not been seen, the search of essences…

Irvin Morris, Instructor

A.B.D., State University of New York-Buffalo, American Studies/Native American Studies | M.F.A., Cornell University, Creative Writing/Fiction | B.A., University of California-Santa Cruz, Literature/Creative Writing | A.F.A., Institute of American Indian Arts, Creative Writing

(928) 724-6964 | imorris@dinecollege.edu

Matthew Bollinger

Assistant Professor

M.F.A., San Francisco Art Institute, Master of Architecture, University of New Mexico | B.A., Fine Arts, University of New Mexico

(928) 724-6961 | mbollinger@dinecollege.edu

Orlando White

Instructor

M.F.A., Brown University, Literary Arts | B.F.A., Institute of American Indian Arts, Creating Writing | A.S., College of Eastern Utah, Liberal Arts

(928) 724-6615 | owhite@dinecollege.edu

Velma Hale

Instructor

M.A., Northern Arizona University, Bilingual-Multicultural Education | B.S., Northern Arizona University, Secondary Education

(928) 724-6617 | vhale@dinecollege.edu

Gabriela Cruz

Professor

M.F.A, University of Texas at San Antonio, Studio Arts | B.F.A, Sam Houston State University, Studio Arts

(928) 724-6618 | gcruz@dinecollege.edu

Dr. Alysa Landry

Instructor

Ph.D., Gratz College, Holocaust and Genocide | M.F.A., Chatham University, Creative Writing | M.A., Emerson College, Journalism | B.A., Brigham Young University, Journalism

(505) 368-3661 | alandry@dinecollege.edu

Jesse T. Maloney

Assistant Professor

M.F.A., Lindenwood University, Writing | B.A., Northern Arizona University

(928) 283-5113 | jtmaloney@dinecollege.edu

Dr. Janel Hinrichsen

Professor

Ph.D., University of Kansas, Education | M.A., University of Kansas, Education | B.A., University of Kansas, English

(928) 283-5113 x7522 | jhinrichsen@dinecollege.edu