About

David Gere, Ph.D., is the founding director of the UCLA Art & Global Health Center and is a professor in the UCLA Department of World Arts and Cultures/Dance, where he teaches courses in arts activism. His extensive writing and global curatorial projects address arts-based public health interventions and projects. Through the UCLA Art & Global Health Center, Gere and his students engage local and global communities, from the UCLA Sex Squad’s performances in LAUSD high school to the Through Positive Eyes initiative in cities around the world. Art & Global Health Center programs operate across five continents and engage and encourage local artist communities to take on public health issues in accessible and entertaining ways.

Expertise

Arts activism, HIV and public health, and diversity education.

Creative Practice & Research

• Recent courses include: Intro to World Arts and Cultures, Theorizing Arts Activism, Art & Global Health, Arts Encounters, and MAKE ART/STOP AIDS.
• Publications include: How to Make Dances in an Epidemic, Looking Out: Perspectives on Dance and Criticism in a Multicultural World, and Taken by Surprise: A Dance Improvisation Reader.
• Traveling international exhibitions include: MAKE ART/STOP AIDS (2008), The A.R.T. Show (2011), and Through Positive Eyes (2016 - present).