Biography

Nicola Marae Allain, Ph.D.
Doctor of Philosophy, European Graduate School, Switzerland. 
Master of Arts, University of California, Santa Barbara.
Bachelor of Arts, University of Ottawa / Université d'Ottawa, Canada. 
Steering Committee Member, SUNY Innovative Instruction Research Council. 

Nicola Marae Allain, Ph.D., is Professor of Arts & Media and was formerly the Dean of the School of Arts and Humanities at SUNY Empire State University, where she has held tenured faculty and administrative roles since 2002. She previously had responsibility for three academic departments—Arts and Media; Historical Studies; and Literature, Communication, and Cultural Studies—across 30+ instructional sites and online modalities, serving over 17,000 adult learners. Her leadership portfolio includes curriculum and instruction, instructional and learning design, budget management, faculty development, change management, and strategic innovation in digital learning environments.

Dr. Allain’s interdisciplinary background spans media and communication, digital media arts, immersive environments, visual pedagogy, and performing arts. Her research and leadership in digital learning design and educational technology have supported large-scale curriculum innovations across undergraduate and graduate programs, including SUNY Empire’s Master of Arts in Learning and Emerging Technologies. She has supervised extensive instructional design teams and led nationally recognized initiatives, including the Fire and Emergency Services in Higher Education curriculum revision with the U.S. Fire Administration National Fire Academy.

Internationally engaged and multilingual, Dr. Allain brings a global perspective shaped by professional and academic experiences in the U.S., U.K., Canada, Tahiti, Mexico, and Switzerland. She holds a Ph.D. in Media and Communication from the European Graduate School, an M.A. in Dramatic Art, Dance, and Music from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and a B.A. in English from the University of Ottawa. She is certified in change management and mindful leadership, and received the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Professional Service.

Dr. Allain has played a leading role in SUNY’s system-wide educational innovation. She has served for over a decade on the SUNY Innovative Instruction Research Council and currently co-chairs the SUNY Faculty Advisory Council on Teaching and Technology (FACT²) AI Task Group Subcommittee on AI for Teaching and Learning. She co-authored the SUNY FACT² Guide to Optimizing AI in Higher Education (May 2024), contributing chapters on the social impact and creative uses of AI.

Her scholarly work focuses on digital humanities, learning design, virtual worlds, curriculum innovation, and the intersection of digital culture and the arts, with particular attention to Asia-Pacific cultural traditions. She has published on mindful leadership in higher education, generative AI, and digital humanities. She is also co-author, with Thomas P. Mackey, of the forthcoming book AI and Metaliteracy: Empowering Learners for the Generative Revolution (Bloomsbury Publishing, 2025), part of the Innovations in Information Literacy series edited by Trudi E. Jacobson.

A lifelong advocate for learner agency and authentic, interdisciplinary education, Dr. Allain is also a translator of French poetry and Classical Chinese texts, and a former dance director specializing in Oceanic and Mexican folk traditions. She continues to present nationally and internationally on digital learning, educational technology, visual communication, and leadership in complex learning environments.