Dr. Thomas is an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation. He has been at Navajo Technical University in Crownpoint, NM, since 2011, and is Professor, Graduate Dean of the School of Graduate Studies and Research, and Chair of the School of Diné and Law Studies.
During the academic year 2009-2010, he served as Chair of the Center for Diné Studies at Diné College, Tsaile, AZ, and was a Fellow in the Educational Policy Program at Teacher's College, Columbia University. Dr. Thomas was the Academic Dean at Diné College in 2006-2009. He returned to the Navajo Nation in mid-2006 from Indiana University Bloomington (IU) where he had taught for several years as a graduate faculty in the Departments of Anthropology, Gender Studies and International Studies and was the Founding Director of the IU First Nations Educational and Cultural Center. He studied at University of Washington-Seattle in 1990-1999 (BA 1994, MA 1996, PhD 1999).
Dr. Thomas' academic research work focuses on the construction of cultural identities, gender studies, Indigenous research methodologies, America's cultural imperialism and acculturation/assimilation theories, among others. In recent years, he has been focusing on the cultural practices of Diné elders' way of life and care, and Diné family structure.
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