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Jeanne Belisle Lombardo, M.A. is an educator, poet, writer and editor, and a lifelong student of ideas. She received a bachelor’s degree in Spanish and Latin American Studies, with a minor in English Literature, in 1978. For the next eight years she taught English to university-bound foreign students in Los Angeles. In California, she also undertook six years of study with the renowned dancer and teacher, Carmelita Maracci, an experience which involved an in-depth exploration not only of dance but of music, art, literature, and politics.
A fascination with foreign languages and cultures led Jeanne to accept a teaching position at Beppu University in Kyushu, Japan in 1988 where, for the next two and a half years, she taught English conversation and American Studies and immersed herself in the study of Japanese language and culture. Along with her teaching duties, she wrote articles for English literature publications, co-founded a local newsletter for English-speaking residents, and edited articles bound for publication in the U.S. written by non-native speakers of English. In 1990 she moved to Tokyo, in 1992 to London, and in 1995 to Paris, where she developed a course of private study in English for Japanese and French executives and professionals, and edited their reports and articles for presentation in the U.S.
Returning to the U.S. in 1997, Jeanne went to work for Rio Salado College in Tempe, Arizona, where, as the Transition Program Coordinator, she developed and coordinated a cross-college academic program for under-skilled students and non-native English speakers. Active in district-wide initiatives, between 2004 and 2006, she served as editor of the online diversity newsletter for the Maricopa Community College District. Since 2010, she has held the position of Assistant Director of Community Development at the college, and is involved in designing educational and career pathways for developmental adult students.
In 2008 Jeanne completed coursework on a Master’s degree in Interdisciplinary Humanities from California State University, adding to her academic credentials a broad understanding of the various humanities areas (Art, History, Literature, Music and Philosophy) with a focus on twentieth-century movements. In 2009 she completed her thesis on the evolution of utopian thought and its connection to developments in philosophical and scientific ontologies from ancient to modern times.
Jeanne has written poetry through most of her life and is a lover of languages and literature. A selection of her essays in the humanities can be found on the Center for Future Consciousness website at: http://www.centerforfutureconsciousness.com/thearts_readings.htm. She is fluent in Spanish and has, when the circumstances demanded it, gained a working familiarity with both French and Japanese. She has lived in Mexico, Guatemala, Japan, England and France and traveled around the world, to India, Thailand, Brazil, and Korea, as well as many parts of Europe. Jeanne is drawn to the beauty and excitement of place.
Jeanne is co-founder, along with her husband Dr. Tom Lombardo, of the Center for Future Consciousness in Scottsdale, AZ.. She participates in the ongoing evolution of the Center, coordinates marketing and finances, edits and collaborates on all publications, and co-presents with Tom at the annual World Future Society Conferences and at local events. A member of the World Future Society since 2002, and a presenter in her own right at the national WFS conventions, she is familiar with the major currents of futurist thought and acquainted with leading figures within the organization.
She has worked as an adjunct faculty at University of Advancing Technology in Tempe. She is a member of the Arizona Humanities Council and follows developments in the Digital Humanities on HASTAC (Humanities, Arts, Science, and Technology Advanced Collaboratory). She is currently designing a Digital Humanities course for the Masters in Foresight and Innovation program at the University of Angers in France.
Aside from her academic pursuits, Jeanne writes for an online magazine, Suite101, and has published poetry and book reviews in several literary magazines. She is currently working on a memoir of her time as a student of dance with Carmelita Maracci.
Passionate about language, history and ideas, informed about current events and global issues, and committed to excellence and learning, Jeanne’s present interests include: utopian models of ideal future societies, ethics and ethical evolution, biotechnology and human enhancement, the future of education in the digital age, and humanities and the future. She is particularly interested in the intersection of the humanities and the sciences and the possibilities for greater collaboration and participation across disciplines afforded by new technologies in the digital age.
Presentations
- July 2011: World Future Society Conference, Vancouver, BC—Tapping the Well: A Bisociative Exercise with Learning
- July 2010: World Future Society Conference, Boston Massachusetts—New Models of Learning in the Digital Age
- July 2009: World Future Society Conference, Chicago Illinois—Creativity and the Evolution of Human Society
- June 2009: Science Wisdom and the Future Conference, San Luis Obispo California—Science, Wisdom and Future Consciousness through the Lens of Utopia
- July 2008: World Future Society Conference, Washington D.C.—Utopian Visions and Values for the Future
- July 2007: World Future Society Conference, Minneapolis Minnesota—The Evolution and Future Direction of Marriage (with Tom Lombardo)
- June 2007: Rio Salado Institute for Lifelong Learning, Surprise Arizona—The Evolution and Future Direction of Marriage (with Tom Lombardo)
- May 2007: University Women’s Association, Phoenix, Arizona—The Evolution and Future Direction of Marriage (with Tom Lombardo)
- April 2007: Rio Salado Institute for Lifelong Learning, Surprise Arizona—Consumerism and the Good Life (with Tom Lombardo)
- February 2007: Texas Adult Education Regional ESOL Conference, El Paso Texas—Strategies for Moving ABE ESOL Students into Postsecondary Education and Training Opportunities
- April 2006: Wisconsin State Technical College Annual Conference, Elkhart Lake Wisconsin—ABE Transition at Rio Salado College: Strategies for Moving ABE ESOL Students into Postsecondary Education and Training Opportunities
- May 2005: COABE (Conference on Adult Basic Education), Anaheim, California—Preparation -The Stuff of Dreams: Transitioning ABE ESOL Students into Community College
- October 2005: ACE Educating All of One Nation Conference, Phoenix, Arizona—Eliminating Barriers to Achieve Student Learning and Success
- November 2004: Effective Transitions in Adult Education Conference, University of New Hampshire—Collaboration Counts: Strategies for ABE to College Transition
- September 2004: Rio Salado College ABE In-Service—Adult Basic Education Technology Standards and Transition
- May 2004: Arizona Adult Education Conference, Phoenix, Arizona—Collaboration Counts: Transition Strategies in the ASE and ESOL Classrooms
- March 2003: TESOL (Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages), October 2002: AZ AALL Conference, Phoenix, Arizona—What Next? Motivating Students by Planning for College
- Baltimore, Maryland—Preparing ABE ESOL Students for College Classes
- May 2002: MPAEA Conference, Phoenix, Arizona—Transitioning ABE ESOL Students into Community College
- April 2001: Rio Salado College—Adam and Eve in the Third Millennium (with Tom Lombardo)
- November 2000: First Year Experience: Students in Transition, Cincinnati, Ohio—Transitioning Adult Basic Education Students into Community College
- March 2000: COABE (Conference on Adult Basic Education), Chicago, Illinois—Transitioning Adult Basic Education Students into Community College Classes
- September 1999: Arizona Adult Education Conference, Phoenix, Arizona—Transitioning Adult Basic Education Students into Community College Classes
Publications
- Contributing writer to Suite101: various articles on a range of topics at http://www.suite101.com/profile.cfm/jeannelombardo
- Range of articles on the Humanities at http://www.centerforfutureconsciousness.com/thearts_readings.htm
- Mind Flight: A Journey into the Future (with Tom Lombardo). Bloomington, IN: Xlibris, 2011.
- “Utopia and the Evolution of Wisdom.” Science, Wisdom, and the Future: Humanity’s Quest for a Flourishing Earth, ed. Cheryl and Russ Genet. San Margarita, CA: Collins Foundation Press, 2011.
- The Ontological Underpinnings of the Modern Utopia. Ann Arbor, MI: UMI, 2010.
- “The Evolution and Future Direction of Marriage” (with Tom Lombardo). WorldFuture 2008: Seeing the Future Through New Eyes (Ed. Cynthia Wagner). Bethesda, Maryland: World Future Society, 2008.
- “History: The Power of the Idea and the Idea of Power, Earthpages.org, Ed. Michael W. Clark, http://epages.wordpress.com/2009/01/16/history-the-power-of-the-idea-and-the-idea-of-power/
- “Reflections on Human Civilization; Alternative Realities in Robert Sawyer’s Neanderthal Parallax” (with Tom Lombardo) in Learning Tomorrow, Volume 1, Issue Number 3, 2007
- “Book review—Sor Juana, or The Traps of Faith by Octavio Paz,” Hispanic Outlook on Higher Education, 2005.
- “Book review—Seven Myths of the Spanish Conquest by Matthew Restall,” Hispanic Outlook on Higher Education, 2004
- “Relationships Count” in Focus on Basics, Volume 6, Issue D, February 2004.
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