Dr. David W. Luce is an Assistant Professor of Music, the Director of the Music Therapy program at Chapman University, and a Board Certified Music Therapist. Dr. Luce completed his doctoral studies at Michigan State University under the direction of Dr. Ted Tims. His doctoral research focused on the education, training, and self-development of music therapists in which he explored areas of critical pedagogy, knowledge as a social construct, and collaborative learning teaching methods. His other research interests include improvisational music-using instruments and the voice-in therapeutic environments; the phenomenological perspective of music as embodied experience, music learning theory and cognitive processing as related to music therapy clinical practice; and the historical and contemporary relationships between music and medicine.

Dr. Luce has been a Board Certified Music Therapist since 1992 following the completion of his undergraduate equivalency and Master of Music Therapy degree at Southern Methodist University where he studied with Drs. Charles Eagle and Mark Rider. While at Southern Methodist University his research interests included psychoneuroimmunolgy and applied psychophysiology, and the implications for music therapy clinical practice. He completed additional studies in imagery and music with Drs. Jeanne Achterberg and Frank Lawless, and in biofeedback with Dr. Barbara Peavey. For his master's thesis, he developed and implemented a pilot music therapy project for a hospice program that continues to this day. Dr. Luce has additional training in Guided Imagery and Music (GIM) with Dr. Kenneth Bruscia. He also assisted Dr. Eagle in the development of CAIRSS (Computer Assisted Information Retrieval Service System), a bibliographic database of music and medicine related literature. The CAIRSS database is accessible through the Institute for Music Research at the University of Texas San Antonio via http://imr.utsa.edu/CAIRSS.html.

Dr. Luce's clinical experience has included work in acute and chronic psychiatry, chemical dependency, sub-acute medical rehabilitation settings, and palliative care and hospice. He has worked with children and adults with special needs, older adults in skilled nursing and residential environments, at-risk elementary school children, and abused and battered women, in addition to providing clinical supervision for music therapy students. From 1994-1998, he conducted a successful private practice in the San Francisco Bay area.

In 2002, Dr. Luce was awarded a Faculty Development Research grant by the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh to study collaborative learning in undergraduate music therapy education.

Dr. Luce's publications to date include the following:

2004 - Music Learning theory and audiation: Implications for music therapy clinical practice. Accepted for publication in Music Therapy Perspectives.

2001 - Cognitive Therapy and Music Therapy. Music Therapy Perspectives (19), 96-103.

2001 - Collaborative learning in music education: A review of literature. Update: Applications of Research in Music Education, 19(2), 20-25.

Dr. Luce has served the American Music Therapy Association as a member of the Assembly of Delegates, as Government Relations Representative for the Western Region, as Research Committee representative for the Great Lakes Region, and currently sits on the AMTA Ethics Board. He served the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh as a member of the Faculty Development Research Review Board and the music department's curriculum committee. He has been a member of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, and the Council of Hospice Professionals. From 1996-1998, he served as co-chair of the California Creative Arts Therapies Coalition. He has served on various other boards including Arts Councils, Chambers of Commerce, and local clubs of Rotary International. In 1998, he received the Western Region of the American Music Therapy Association's Service Award. He has received Service Citations from the State of North Carolina for his work at the Mountain Area Hospice, and from Horizon's for the Handicapped in Colorado for his work on their Executive Board.

Dr. Luce received his B.S. in Radio and Television management with minors in music and business from San Diego State University and an AA degree in music from San Diego Mesa College. He spent several years in the radio broadcasting industry where he was a Station Manager, Sales Manager, News and Public Affairs Director, and d-j. He also developed a local advertising consulting business.

Dr. Luce consistently presents at national and regional conferences and provides local in-services and presentations.