¡Adiós Professor Diaz!

At the start of the Spring ’24 semester, psychology students received sudden news – as of Fall 2024 Professor Felix Diaz will be leaving AUBG.

Prof. Diaz has been teaching at AUBG for the past six years. Along with former AUBG Professor Ron Harvey, he co-founded the psychology program. Currently, Prof. Diaz is teaching some of the fundamental psychology courses and specialized topics courses that he developed, particularly in the realm of Disability.

During his time at AUBG, he wrote a guidebook for dementia caregivers. He also worked on strengthening the relationship between AUBG and the social services at the municipality of Blagoevgrad.

Prof. Diaz shared that after 18 years of teaching at a Spanish public university, he felt the need to expand his academic career. After meeting Professor Sean Homer, he learned of AUBG’s intention to start a psychology program. He decided to seize the opportunity and become a professor here.  

Prof. Diaz said that he has grown both professionally and personally at the university. In contrast to his former experience, AUBG is a private university that delivers intensive teaching in small groups. He described his time at AUBG as an opportunity to learn about teaching strategies, which are participatory and with continuous assessment.

Adapting to the workload is what Prof. Diaz found most challenging. “For me, the main shock with AUBG was the level of teaching, and how your academic job invades everything in your life,” he shared. Despite that, he described his time at AUBG as a very good learning experience and said that he liked this intensity. What he is going to miss most is the teaching approach, with close contact and supervision with the students.            

Alexandar Genov, a second-year student majoring in Journalism and Mass Communication (JMC) and Psychology, shared his experience with the professor. “I think that Professor Diaz does a very good job of adapting the material comprehensively and in a very interesting manner,” he said. Alexander explained that, from what he had seen before, it’s hard for psychology professors to present the course topics in a thorough way for the students.

Third-year student Daniela Georgieva has taken two classes with Prof. Diaz, Social and Abnormal Psychology. She describes the professor as knowledgeable, fun, and passionate. “His classes are usually held at 9 am in Main Building. I loved how energetic he was in the mornings, and this usually gave a good start to my day,” Daniela said.

Another third-year student, Filippos Kinigopoulus, shared that Prof. Diaz’s specialized Disability course was one of the courses that impacted him the most at AUBG. “As I’m a psychology major, I’ve wanted to pursue clinical psychology, and this course made me more interested in it,” he said. Filippos praised Prof. Diaz’s teaching methods, noting the participatory activities in the disability course lectures.

Valeriya Sotnikova, a third-year student majoring in JMC and Psychology, has worked closely with Prof. Diaz as he consulted her on her independent study. “Professor Diaz has helped me a lot by preparing me for the research process for the topic I have chosen,” said Valerya. “He always provided me with answers that I needed and was very supportive throughout the entire process.”

Valeriya recalled a trip with the professor to a mental health conference in Budapest where she presented her independent study. She explained that it was Prof. Diaz who told her about the conference and encouraged her to apply. He also helped her resolve obstacles that came her way.

Prof. Diaz will continue his work as a professor at the New Bulgarian University in Sofia. His students will remember him as an active, passionate, and caring person who is always ready to help the ones he teaches.

“I am very happy and proud to have contributed to the progress and growth of AUBG,” he said.  

Editors: Dasha Dolgopolova and David Mitov