Yer Thao, PhD, is a member of an oral tradition and a pioneer print culture scholar from the Mong culture. He has been with the Curriculum and Instruction Department in the College of Education since fall 2002. He teaches multicultural, cross-cultural, bilingual education and current issues in education and society. His research interests include ethnic identity,bilingual and multicultural teacher training, linguistic diversity and oral tradition. He is the youngest child in a large family of 11 from Laos.
Dr. Thao was a former elementary education teacher with a K-8 teaching credential. He received his BA degree from Humboldt State University, a master's degree in bilingual and multicultural education from California State University Monterey Bay and a PhD in education from Claremont Graduate University.
Examples of Dr. Thao's work include: a book, The Mong Oral Tradition: Cultural Memory in the Absence of Written Language (McFarland & Company), co-editor of the article Diversifying the Teaching Force in Teacher Education Quarterly, and an article entitled Empowering Mong Students: Home and School Factors in The Urban Review, 34(1). Dr. Thao enjoys helping others make connections between oral and written traditions. Dr. Thao believes culture is a treasure to us and wants it to be infused into daily teaching and learning practices. He is committed to helping people learn to trust one another by instilling appreciation of the different cultures in our community. Dr. Thao's publications about the Mong culture are examples to help the Mong-Americans and others to understand the Mong people.