Overview

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

The course provides a broad theoretical overview of problems and ideas associated with the nature and provision of arts education in the schools.

COURSE DETAILS:

A keyword for this course could be the verb “to situate.” That is, the course is designed to help you
‘situate’ yourself in 5 key domains:
i- in your values, beliefs, and practices about art and aesthetics;
ii- in your values, beliefs, and practices about learning and teaching;
iii- in the contemporary, historical, and cross-cultural conversations and contexts regarding
art and aesthetics;
iv- in the historical and contemporary conversations and contexts regarding scholarship;
v- in the various streams of inquiry that you wish to pursue.

COURSE-LEVEL EDUCATIONAL GOALS:

As a seminar, this course is intended to provide a space for us to share and explore ideas with each
other. This means that much of our ‘content’ or ‘curriculum’ could be determined by what each of us
wants to bring to the table. There will, of course, be some key themes on offer, some orienting ideas,
and some readings (both articles and some books) to assist us in this journey. But as well, my hope
and aim is that we can create a space where we all can contribute to a mutually supportive, inquisitive,
creative, scholarly community


As well, this course is designed to provide room for you to explore, propose and even begin to
develop a line of inquiry that you might undertake through the program. Toward that end we will
spend some time discussing your personal hopes and aims, notions of research and inquiry, and the
contexts and conditions of engaging in institutional, and extra-institutional, scholarship in our times.
On a more pragmatic level, as this will be the first course in your program, we will spend time
revisiting, re-engaging with, and ruminating over ideas about scholarship and study, along with the
nuts and bolts of doctoral work, in order to lay some groundwork for supporting your journey through
the program.
Some Possible Activities
- “An Idea & An Issue” (personal presentation)
- Tracings of an Intellectual Autobiography/On the Lineage of our Ideas (personal inquiry &
presentation)
- Mapping one’s personal aesthetic (personal inquiry & presentation)
- Exploring a historical/cross-cultural aspect of art/aesthetics/education (small group presentation)
- Book Club/Journal Club (small group activity)
- A Glossary of Keywords (personal collection of terminology and concepts to unpack and keep in
mind)
- “Creating a path by walking” (personal research ideas)
- “This is where I stand, and What I see from here” (a tentatively summative personal statement of
sorts at the end of term)
- End of term Poster Session and Roundtable Discussion
Attendance at all classes is important, indeed, it is essential (please let me know in advance if you have
to miss a class, so we can discuss options for keeping up with the flow)

Grading

Materials

REQUIRED READING: