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Dr. Howard, who spent her first years in
mainland China and Japan, has
lived all over the world. Gaining broad,
multicultural experience in on-site and distance communication and
performance, she has studied, performed, taught, and presented throughout
the United States (including NYC) and in Europe. Having graduated from a
female, college-preparatory school,
St. Andrew's Priory, in Hawaii, she has earned a
Bachelor of Arts degree in English and Music with secondary teaching
credentials at the University of Oregon. Further, she has received a Master
of Education degree in Curriculum and Instruction with Specializations in
Gifted Education and the Performing Arts at the University of Washington.
Furthermore, she has earned a Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction with a
Specialization in Performance Studies (as Communication Art) at the
University of Texas. Subsequently, Professor Howard has completed
requirements for a Post-Doctoral Administrative Certification in Distance
Learning at the
Texas A & M Center for Distance Learning Research.
She has served on regional to international, multicultural, educational, and
performing arts boards of directors/advisors. (See her professional
resume.) She has been active with many
professional organizations. She
has been intensely involved throughout her life in facilitating others to
produce with her educational and artistic projects that are substantive,
redemptive, and edifying. She has taught and inspired other to produce
quality work that enriches minds, hearts, and souls.
Dr. Howard has been a Performance Studies,
Communication, and Media Studies Professor, who has been responsible for the
Performance Studies Division in the Department of Communication and Media
Studies (formerly Communication and Dramatic Arts) at the University of Mary
Hardin-Baylor. She has been active in
national/international publishing and presenting,
especially concerning
autobiographical writing and presenting and
distance communication, presentation, and
performance. She has been an
author of communication and performance studies textbooks.
In recent years, she has presented her work at UMHB in
performance of autobiography
at a Performance Studies International (PSi) conference in Wales. She has
outlined her
research
related to presenting role models through distance performance at an
international PSi conference at Arizona State University. At an
international ethnic studies conference in Houston, TX, Dr. Howard has
spoken on empowering people of color through
distance, communication research. The conference
has published her paper in a conference monograph. She has presented the
humanizing and personalizing
elements of autobiographical performance and follow-up interactions in
Cyberspace in Mainz, Germany, at an international Performance Studies
conference. At a national
Christians in Theater Arts
in San Francisco, she has conducted workshops on
Writing and Performing Autobiography.
Dr. Howard has visited historical reenactment/interpretation sites and has
discussed the work in these facilities with their managers. These sites have
included Washington-on-the Brazos, Texas; Colonial Williamsburg and
Jamestown, Virginia; Ellis Island and the Tenement Museum, NYC. She has
attended a National Speaker Association conference in Dallas, Texas, and has
worked with historical presenters associated with that organization and with
other performers of history. In Florida, she has supervised and visited her
paid interns in the Disney College Program and her graduates,
who have been hired by Disney World in Orlando. From 2003 to the present,
UMHB Performance Studies students and graduates have been trained and
employed by Walt Disney World.
Professor Howard has presented her work related
to autobiographical writing and presenting at an
international Latino and Hispanic conference in
Cancun, Mexico. Again, the conference has published her paper in a
conference monograph. She has presented a session at the National
Association of African American Studies conference in Houston, TX, entitled
Involving the Audience in Autobiographical Storytelling.
Her paper
Using Performance Frames to Engage and Involve the Audience in
Autobiographical Stories of Historic African American Role Models
has been published in the conference monograph..
Dr. Howard has met with CEOs of Colonial
Williamsburg to discuss distance education and historical performance.
Further, she has performed at a PSi conference at NYU in New York City. Dr.
Howard has presented
Facilitating Productivity in Distance Education
and
Videostreaming Performances
at the
Fall Texas Computer Educators Conference in
Temple, TX.
She has provided a session,
Effective Presentations via Distance Technologies,
at the NAAAS conference (
National Association of African American Studies, National Association of
Hispanic and Latino Studies, National Association of Native American
Studies, International Association of Asian Studies).
At the
National Conference on Parent Education, Dallas, TX,
Dr. Howard presented
Facilitating Interactivity and Productivity in Distance Parent Education,
She and her students have presented
Effective Distance Presentation of Poetry for
Texas Region Six District, K-12, teachers and
Distance Interview Skills
for Temple Independent School District, 6-12, teachers
and students. She has presented Effective Non-Verbal Communication for
Classroom Teaching, TX Ed. Region VI teachers and administrators. She has
presented and facilitated educational videoconferences with teachers and
students throughout Texas and in New Jersey. She has participated in
performed, presented and facilitated numerous educational, international Web
casts.
She has spoken on
Performance Studies in Secondary Education at the
National Educational Theatre Association Conference
and has taught in a short course at the National Communication Association
Conference in Miami. She has presented
Introduction to Speech Performance Through Project-Based, Autobiographical
Performance, as part of a panel, Integrating
Narrative Form and Storytelling into the Basic Courses. She has presented
Cyberspace, the Great Equalizer, for
NAAAS ( National Association of African American Studies, National
Association of Hispanic and Latino Studies, National Association of
Native American Studies, International Association of Asian Studies),
in Houston, Texas.
Dr. Howard has joined the
NAAAS Board of Directors and has attended the
summer board meeting in Maine. At the 2005 NAAAS conference she has
delivered her paper
Facilitation and Enhancement in Online Community ,
which has been published in the conference monograph. She has planned for
Carlotta Russell Maneice, who reenacts Sojourner
Truth from primary sources, to perform at the NAAAS convention. Further,
Professor Howard has arranged for
Dr. Rod Paige, Secretary of Education in President
Bush's first term cabinet, to speak at the Houston, TX, conference. After
participating in the
NAAAS Board of Directors summer meeting in Baton
Rouge, Professor Howard has presented The Impact and Power of
Autobiographical Storytelling and published
Structuring Autobiographical Stories at the 2006
NAAAS Baton Rouge conference. She has also arranged for a performances that
have included the autobiographical story of Harriet Tubman by Dee Hughes and
Puerto Rican poetry presented in Spanish by veteran Texas actor, Michael
Fox. At the
National Communication Association
Convention in San Antonio, TX in 2006, Dr. Howard has presented
Inspiring Internal Locus of Control Through Narrative
Role Models, as part of the Conflict
Narrative Course - A Site for Change: Connecting with Self Through the
Actions of Others.
Professor Howard and Performance Studies
Students, Alumni, and Colleagues have been involved in independent
filmmaking at UMHB and with collaborative film projects with other
independent filmmakers. The University of Mary Hardin Baylor’s
Cru Film Program, that integrates courses and
activities in Performance Studies and Computer Graphics Design (CGD),
continues to develop and expand. Dr. Diane Howard leads Performance Studies
in the new Department of Communication and Media Studies in the new College
of Humanities. Ms. Donna Teel leads Computer Graphics Design (CGD) in the
Department of Business Information Technology and Systems (BITS) in the
College of Business. Together they have forged a new
Film Minor at UMHB that integrates courses from
their respective programs to train students in all aspects of film
production. At UMHB they have been producing original Cru films that are
positively and constructively entertaining and edifying. Texas independent
film associations and events have screened
Cru films. They have also been involved with 48
Hour Film Projects in Austin, Texas. They have been part of the
Big Plume Productions Team that has won numerous
film awards.
Dr. Howard has been a facilitator and graduate,
online, curriculum developer. She has been a
published author and online writer, editor,
instructor,
and professor . She has reviewed educational
technology plans, grant applications, Web services, and distance education
program. She has served as a professional consultant in on-site and distance
communicating/presenting/communicating and in autobiographical
writing/presenting. She has been active in the World Association of
Online Education,
WAOE, as a writer, mentor, and book reviewer. Dr.
Howard has served in educational research, curriculum development, and
program delivery. She and her students have been involved in
peer-mentoring
projects with state, national, and international networks for which
Professor Howard and her students have designed an innovative, interactive
Web site. They have served
school districts and colleges with
distance education programming, especially via
videoconferencing. On this Web site, Dr. Howard has published resources and
guidance for distance communication and autobiographical writing/performing.
Furthermore, they are working collaboratively on a book to effectively guide
filmmakers in the process of producing films from script to screen.
Professor Howard has been a regional, national, and international
on-site and distance public speaker, performer, presenter, consultant,
coach, and professor. Her college, competitive, public speaking and
performance of literature students have been state and national winners.
Her Performance Studies students have
performed poetry for Texas Nafas (a television,
poetry program in Austin, TX). They have served as talent for regional Texas
companies.
Dr. Howard has judged academic, speech competitions. She has served on
boards of directors and steering committees for regional performing arts and
cultural organizations, such as the Evergreen Performers of Tacoma, WA; the
CAC Chorale and
Cultural Activities Center
of Temple, TX; Tablerock Festivals of Salado, TX; and
Texas Nafas
of Austin, TX. She has been a presentation facilitator for nationally
recognized poet, Robert Bly.
Dr. Howard has served at leadership levels on
steering committees, boards of directors, and advisory boards for
international organizations such as the following:
·
PSi (Performance Studies International, Founding
Member,
Presenter, Steering/Sub-Committees)
· NAAAS
(National Association of African American Studies and
Affiliates - National Association of Hispanic and Latino Studies, National
Association of Native American Studies, and the International Association of
Asian Studies; International Board of Advisors, Presenter, Writer)
· WAOE
(World Association of Online Education; Officer Online Education Curriculum
Committee, Online Writer, International Book Reviewer, Online Graduate Ed.
Mentor)
At the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, Dr.
Howard has developed a leading, communication, Performance Studies, B.A.
degree program in the Department of Communication and Media Studies
(formerly the Dept. of Communication and Dramatic Arts).
The Performance Studies Major
at the UMHB has provided training in
performance techniques for theater, television,
radio, platform presentations, distance communication, and
film. UMHB students have been interns for
Walt Disney World, production and
casting studios, talent agent offices, radio and
television stations, newspaper operations, political offices,
videoconference centers, and theater organizations, Some of the UMHB
Performance Studies, Theater, and Communication students/alumni
have been employed in regional television studios (see
Matt Howard interviewing Julia Roberts, Benjamin
Bratt, and other stars). Others have been employed by radio stations,
video/film production studios (i.e.
Katsy Joiner), and cultural centers. Others have
been free-lance
solo or ensemble theatrical/musical/platform
presenters
and/or
performers/directors. (Some of what the
Performance Studies
students and
alumni have been doing is noted on this Web site.)
Performance Studies students have researched, written, produced, and performed
solo productions
of great historic or contemporary role models that
have been presented on platforms or on stages for businesses, civic
organizations, theaters, schools, libraries, museums, and churches. Dr.
Howard and her Performance Studies students and alumni have performed in
schools through the Temple Cultural Activities Center's
Artists-for-Hire
program. They have performed and presented for
Equal Opportunity Programs for military
organizations.
Professor Howard, her students, and her alumni
have performed for television, film, and distance performance via
videostreaming or videoconferencing. Furthermore, they have performed
autobiographical stories in videostreams of
Martha Washington,
Joseph Merrick, and
Harriet Tubman for Apple Learning Interchange
(ALI). They have performed multicultural poetry in a live
Web cast
and videostreaming for ALI (Apple Learning Interchange), as well as
performing frequently via videoconferencing for
BellNet and the
TISD network in Central Texas.
UMHB Performance
Studies students and alumni have been especially involved in providing
on-site and distance performances related to
ethnic history.
Performance Studies students, Christine Pointer and Okechukwu Iwundu, have
performed as Guest Artists in the Austin Singers'
Concert,
Soulsongs to Celebrate Black History, along with
Dr. Howard, who has been a singer with the
Austin choral ensemble. UMHB Performances Studies
students and alumni have performed via videoconferencing equipment for
distance
technology fairs.
Dr. Howard has been professionally recognized as an educator, scholar, and
author. The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor has selected her for the Sears
Roebuck Award for Teaching Excellence and Campus Leadership; has designated
her as their Piper Professor Designee; and has given her a performance award
for her regional to international leadership, publication, presentation work
in Performance Studies. She has been included in National & International
Who's Who Directories (2000 to present): American Scholars; Contemporary
Authors; Professional & Business Women; Professional & Executive Women,
Women of Excellence; Women American Education; Women in Education; American
Women; Executives & Professionals; Executives, Professionals,
Entrepreneurs; and Professional Female of the Year in Communication & Media
Studies.
Further, Professor
Howard has been a
performing artist and presenter. She has performed
and presented as a soloist in operas, oratorios, operettas,
musicals, productions of autobiography, sporting events, commercials, church
services, and civic programs for over forty years. She has been commissioned
to research, write, and produce original, historical, productions of
autobiography. She has frequently performed the autobiographical story of
Martha Washington, which she has researched,
written, and produced. She has performed this work through the Temple
Cultural Activities Center's
Artists-for-Hire program and via the
Apple Learning Interchange. She has performed some
of this material at a PSi conference in NYC. She has served as a church
soloist. Having been a regular soloist in concerts of The Messiah, Dr.
Howard has also been a frequent solo performer in civic and university
musical theater, opera, and operetta productions. She has been an
actor and spokesperson for film, television,
radio, industrials, theater, voice-overs, videoconferencing, and
videostreaming. She is represented by the
T. Coet Talent Agency (formerly Barbara Gray
Talent). Having been the chairperson of the steering committee and having
served on the leadership board, she has been a singer with the
CAC Civic Chorale. She has sung Great Musical
Masterworks, especially classical sacred and international music, with
choral groups for over 40 years. She has sung with the Austin Singers and
now actively participates in the fine sacred music program at Austin First
Baptist Church, near the Texas Capitol, under the direction of Louise Avant.
Finally, she has served on the international board of directors for the
NAAAS
organization as the coordinator for special conference
events.
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