Craig Vivian

Craig Vivian

Professor and Co-Chair, Educational Studies
Coordinator, Peace Corp Prep

Rm 208 Wallace Hall 309-457-2307

Biography

I started on my first career path as a carpenter. Out of high school, I apprenticed with a master carpenter for four years, learning all aspects of building a house – from the concrete foundation to the interior trim.

Deciding at the age of 22 that we could do something good for the world, my wife and I joined the Peace Corps. We spent the next 13 years living and traveling in many places around the world. I have lived and worked in Kiribati, the Sudan, Zimbabwe, Switzerland and France.

In each place we ended up, I would naturally gravitate toward teaching informally in a local school, usually tutoring children or working with adult learners. When we decided to settle back in the states, it seemed natural for me to pursue teaching formally.

Interests

Student conceptualizations of learning over time

The process of becoming a “student”

The institutionalization of education

Metaphors of learning

The role of distraction in learning

Using boardgames as educational tools

Education

B.A. – Cornell University, 1989

M.A. – Cornell University, 1998

Ph.D. – Cornell University, 2000

Courses Taught

  • EDST 151 Human Growth and Development
  • EDST 220 Theories of Learning
  • EDST 351 Adolescent Psychology

Selected Work

I am an Apiarist and Ludophile