Robert DiYanni

Robert DiYanni is a professor of humanities at New York University, where he serves on the faculties of the School of Professional Studies and the Stern School of Business. He earned his undergraduate degree in English from Rutgers University, attended a Master of Arts in Teaching program at Johns Hopkins University, and received a Ph.D. in English Language and Literature from the City University of New York Graduate Center. 

Beyond his work at NYU, which has also included a decade teaching in the College of Arts and Science, Dr. DiYanni has taught at the City University of New York, at Pace University, and as a Visiting Professor at both Tsing Hua University in Taiwan and at Harvard University. He has written and edited college textbooks, including Literature: An Introduction; Modern American Poets: Their Voices and Visions, which served as a companion text for the PBS television series Voices and Vision, in the late 1980s; The Scribner Handbook for Writers and Occasions for Writing, both with Pat C. Hoy II; and An ABC of ChineseCulture, with Theresa Chang-whei Jen. Recent books include Critical Reading Across the Curriculum and Critical and Creative Thinking: A Brief Guide for Teachers, both published by Wiley-Blackwell; and The Craft of College Teaching, with Anton Borst, published by Princeton University Press. His latest book, also published by Princeton University Press in 2021, is You Are What You Read: A Practical Guide to Reading Well.

In addition to his university teaching and writing, Dr. DiYanni has served as Senior Director of International Services for the College Board, a position that provided support for schools outside the US in their use of College Board programs, especially the Advanced Placement Program. He also served as a district administrator for the Scarsdale, NY public schools as Director of Arts and Aesthetic Education. 

Professor DiYanni has offered more than 250 workshops and presentations on teaching literature, writing, interdisciplinary humanities, critical and creative thinking, and book publishing. He has run these sessions for public and independent schools in the United States and Canada; for international school consortia and associations in Asia, Europe, and the Middle East; and for secondary schools, colleges, and universities in the United States and beyond.