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faculty

Cathy Smilan

Professor / MAE Graduate Program Director

Art

Contact

508-910-6594

csmilan@umassd.edu

College of Visual & Performing Arts 352A

Education

Florida Atlantic UniversityEdD

Teaching

Courses

Online and Continuing Education Courses

Exploration of current models of practice for art educators in classroom and community settings. This course guides students through the translation of reserach into strategies for teaching practice. Teacher-artists research and desgin pedagogical approaches to teaching art and managing artistic learning spaces, including PK-12 classroom studios, museum education venues and communnity art eduction maker-spaces. Students individually and collaboratively discuss current readings on teaching art and create models of practices as an art eductor resource. Course content additionally serves as a spring-board for further inveistigation in AED 616: Action Research.

Development and implementation of a capstone project demonstrating mastery in an area of individual focus in art education. In this course, students will develop and submit a proposal, and once approved, implement their area of study. Projects may include visual inquiry and exhibit, theoretical paper or practice-based work in school or community settings.

Applies studio skills and visual critique to explore student developed inquiry questions related to social issues of [in]justice and advocacy. Rigorous examination of studio practice, critique and critical pedagogy is designed to advance studio processing, critical inquiry and educational advocacy. Visual documentation analysis from the perspective of artist/researcher/teacher/critic utilizes Arts-based research (ABR) paradigm and contemporary critical transformative theory.

Application of visual studio skills in the exploration of student developed inquiry question. Rigorous examination of studio practice from a research and theoretical perspective is designed to help students apply their studio practice to their teaching practice, thus informing both methodologies. Visual documentation analysis is explored from the perspective of artist/researcher/teacher through utilization of the Art-based research paradigm in arts education. Expectation of 6 studio hours per week outside of class with 3 hours in-class critique and discussion of work.

Research

Research interests

  • Art-based Research
  • Social Justice Art Education
  • Art and the Environment
  • Community Partnership
  • Curriculum and Assessment
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