Chair Network (Exploratory Working Group)Chair: Heather Castillo ([email protected])The Chair’s working group aims to connect those who are in administrative and leadership positions to discuss and collectively navigate what it means to manage schedules, budgets, policy, recruitment, enrollment, retention, curriculum, research, hiring, etc. Through discussion and collective strategy, we aim to provide guidance and mentorship to one another to better advocate for the study and practice of dance broadly at our institutions and beyond. Heather Castillo, Exploratory Working Group Co-ChairHeather Castillo is a performer, dance-maker, scholar, educator, mom and Chair of the Dance, Music, & Theatre Department at California State University Channel Islands. She began her career as a commercial dancer in Los Angeles and has worked with stars ranging from Andy Williams, Debbie Gibson, to Selena Gomez. In 2018 she won CSUCI’s President’s award for Teaching and Learning Innovation for her efforts to rethink Dance History Pedagogy Online and for creating the campus-wide interdisciplinary event Arts Under The Stars. In 2020 she was awarded the Schlundt Lecture in dance from UC Riverside and Faculty Innovation and Leadership Award from the CSU Chancellor’s Office for providing guidance and leadership in the field of dance as it transitioned to online delivery in March 2020. Her current research focuses on excavating and identifying the genealogy of lyrical jazz and its alignment with the AIDS crisis. Her experiences as a commercial dancer along with her interest in labor practices, economics, social movements, and technology as they relate to the development and preconceived values of dance, dance education, and dance studies continue to inform her artmaking, scholarship, and dance practice. |