Center for the Study of Global Change

About

I teach undergraduate and graduate level courses in curriculum development and the instruction of visual art. I also teach graduate seminars and workshops on a range of topics, including: the history of art education, art education for the 21st century, issues regarding use of popular culture in art and social studies curricula, and dealing with difficult issues in the classroom.

My overarching research focuses on the role of aesthetic experience in learning. I have used case study approaches when examining how grieving individuals learn and grow through aesthetic encounters with art and metaphor. I also have used both qualitative and ethnographic strategies in studies of the aesthetic attitudes and art-making practices of artists and craftspersons in discrete rural and inner-city communities. Recent research has explored the real life and online art-making expressions (fan art and cosplay) of youth, who are participants of fandom communities, with special focus on how art is taught and learned in the situated environment of the online fandom. Findings from these studies are informing current inquiries and applications of non-formal art learning in choice-based studio settings in brick and mortar and virtual settings.

I am active in state, national, and international professional art educational organizations, including National Art Education Association (NAEA), the United States Society for Education Through the Arts (USSEA), and the International Society for Education through the Arts (InSEA). I am a former President of USSEA and North American World Councilor to InSEA, and am currently Vice-President to the International Society for Education through Art (InSEA)

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