Denis F. Viri, Ph.D.

CENTER FOR INDIAN EDUCATION
MARY LOU FULTON COLLEGE OF EDUCATION
ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY

Dr. Denis Viri has worked in the field of Indigenous education for over 30 years, currently as a social scientist-researcher who applies anthropological field methods to the study of educational settings and contexts. He is also the Associate Editor of the Journal of American Indian Education, which has been in continuous publication since 1961. His research interests include sociolinguistics in Native language-influenced contexts, Native educator professional development, culture-based education, and comparative international perspectives in Indigenous education.

Besides teaching and administrative experience on the Hopi (1975-1981) and Pascui Yaqui (1981-1983) Indian communities in Arizona, Dr. Viri has worked extensively with schools and tribal agencies on the Tohono O'odham, Navajo, Colorado River, Gila River, Ft. Mojave, and Ute Indian reservations. His work and research interests have also taken him to Indigenous communities in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Mexico, Kazakhstan, Khakasia, Peru, Bolivia, Guatemala, Ecuador, and Argentina. He also served as an English language teacher in the Peace Corps in the Somali Republic (1969-1970) and a teacher training/health and nutrition project in Tamil Nadu, India (1971).

Dr. Viri received his Ph.D. in 1989 from the University of Arizona, completing a dissertation entitled, "Subjective Realities of American Indian Students in an Urban Community College Setting: A Tohono O'odham Case Study." His recent publications include:

• Beaulieu, D.A., Figueira, A.M., Viri, D.F., (2006) Indigenous Teacher Education: Research-Based Model in P.L. Jeffery (Ed) Conference Paper (Parramatta, 2005) published by Australian Association for Research in Education. Available at: http://www.aare.edu.au/05pap/vir05321.pdf

 

• Viri, D. F., Benally, A. (2005) Dine Bizaad* at a Crossroads: Extinction or Renewal? Bilingual Education Research Journal. 29(1) 85-108

 

• Trujillo, O ,  Viri, D. F., Figueira, A. M. and Manuelito, K  (2005)  Educators Interface with Culture and Language in Schooling.(pp. 2274-2284) In J. Cohen, K T. McAlister, K. Rolstad, and J MacSwan (Eds)  ISB4: Proceedings of the 4th International Symposium on Bilingualism. Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Press.

 

• Viri, D. F. (2003) “Standards in American Indian/Alaska Native Education: Preparing Native and non-Native Teachers for Variable Contexts.”  In D. McInerney and S Van Etten (Eds), Sociocultural Influences on Teacher Education, Volume 3, Greenwich Ct: Information Age Publishing