Dr. Dani Ahuicapahtzin Cornejo (Ópata/Xicano/Picunche/Chileno) is an Assistant Professor of Ethnic Studies at Diablo Valley College. His pedagogical practice and scholarship are rooted in Indigenous holistic pedagogical strategies rooted in a hemispheric perspective, as well as the application of these strategies in the service of urban Native youth and other underserved communities.
He has taught a wide array of courses addressing the topics of Native American History and Literature, Urban Education, and Comparative Ethnic Studies at the University of San Francisco, The University of California Davis, San Francisco State University, Chabot College and Diablo Valley College. He has also published on topics such as Indigenous cultural reclamation and educational equity.
Dr. Cornejo co-created the Teaching Excellence Network to support educators in engaging their expertise in the transformation of schools. He has also worked as a public school educator serving second language learners in Denver Colorado and high school students as the assistant director of the East Oakland Step to College Program.
He is a practitioner of the Mexicayotl tradition through the Temescalli (Sweat Lodge) since 2004 and has facilitated Nahuatl language courses for beginning speakers situated within Mexicayotl epistemologies taught through the oral traditions of Flor y Canto.
Finally, since 2004 he has served as the co-musical director for the hip-hop and world music collective "Debajo del Agua", an experience that has opened opportunities for teaching world music ensembles centered in the Indigenous and African diasporas of the Americas.
Daniel Cornejo-Warner
Faculty
