Dr. Eric Engdahl has served as Chair of the Department of Teacher Education at Cal State East Bay since 2014. He is President of the California Council on Teacher Education (CCTE). He served on the California Department of Education (CDE) Visual and Performing Arts (VAPA) Standards Advisory Committee, co-chaired the CDE VAPA Curriculum Framework and Evaluation Criteria Committee, on the CTC Theatre Subject Matter Advisory Panel, and recently co-facilitated a session on test item review.
His current research agenda focuses on Social Emotional Learning/Culturally Responsive Teaching and Arts Integration. In 2019-2020 he led an “Arts Learning Lab” at the University of Tennessee, Chattanooga, Southeast Center for Education in the Arts on SEL and Arts Integration, with an emphasis in Early Childhood Education. Recent publications include a chapter in Preparing educators for arts integration: Placing creativity at the center of learning (Teacher’s College Press, 2017) and “We’ll come back when you’re teaching: Examining the need for curricular reform in higher education in response to the introduction of transitional kindergarten in California’s public schools,” (Teacher Education Quarterly, 2018).
Dr. Engdahl holds a Ph.D. in Theater History/Criticism from the University of California, Los Angeles, a M.F.A. from the Professional Acting Program at Southern Methodist University, and a B.A. from Pomona College. Many years ago he ran away and joined the circus, spending a season as a Ringmaster.