Courses

THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY

ArtEduc 5975: MARKETING, COMMUNICATIONS, & SOCIAL MEDIA

IN NONPROFIT ARTS INSTITUTIONS

Non-profit arts institutions are, more than ever before, driven to be visitor centered and responsive to the communities they serve. This class focuses on strategies for identifying and developing relationships between audiences/ visitors and nonprofit arts institutions through the use of digital technology, specifically social media. It is divided into three areas of study:

  1. Marketing, including market research, forecasting, product development, price, promotion, and distribution;
  2. Communications/Public Relations, including media & government relations, public information, internal communications, audience development, external stakeholder relations, and issue management.
  3. Social Media Concepts such as computer-mediated communication (CMC), mobile communication, the media cloverleaf, apps, social engagement, crowdsourcing, storytelling, platforms, social networking site (SNS) tools, sentiment analysis, gatekeeping, and social media strategic plans and tactics.

While the class is a theoretical investigation into marketing, communication, and social media concepts, we apply these understandings practically by engaging in several social media platforms as a group, including FaceBook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat. Goals for the class include the following:

  • Learn to identify, target, and communicate with local, national, and international constituencies
  • Understand internal and external organizational environments and the parts they play in marketing and communications.
  • Create a marketing/press plan for an event from conception to execution.
  • Integrate marketing and public relations strategies that are then deployed through social media platforms.
  • Know and understand the elements of branding.
  • Develop a robust knowledge of popular social media apps, including identifying appropriate apps for particular situations, content creation and branding, and analyzing metrics.

 

ArtEduc 8193: INDIVIDUAL STUDIES

Individual directed study for subject matter not normally covered under Arts Administration, Education, and Policy courses. Projects may include focused research and study, analysis of readings, annotated bibliographies, reflection and praxis papers, and traditional papers.

 

ArtEduc 4999: RESEARCH DISTINCTION (undergraduate)

The graduation honor with research distinction recognizes those students who demonstrate excellence in the study of a discipline both through major course work and by completing an independent research project culminating in an undergraduate thesis.

 

ArtEduc 7748: ART MUSEUM EDUCATION & ADMINISTRATION PRACTICUM

This course is the culminating experience for the Museum Education and Administration specialization in the department of Arts Administration, Education and Policy. Throughout the semester we will discuss museum work from a third-wave Systems Thinking framework (Jung & Love, 2018) and consider the role of museums in society while engaging in projects that prepare you to work in a contemporary museum environment. These projects are not intended to provide the same kinds of experiences that you will have in your internships and volunteer work; instead, they provide practical understandings that will round out your internship experiences. Students will enter the class with varying levels of professional experience and can serve as peer advisors for other members. By the end of the semester, students should be thoroughly ensconced with peers and mentors as part of an ongoing professional and academic cohort.

This course examines professional practices in art museum education. Students:

  • Position art museums conceptually from a Systems Thinking framework; a theory that positions art museums as open ecosystems that exist within interrelated internal and external environments;
  • Understand the complex lineage of American museums in terms of cultural power and privilege as well as the current reconsideration of their positionality and purposes in society;
  • Develop 21st century leadership and communication skills both within and outside of the museum;
  • Engage in basic budgeting and grant writing;
  • Build and maintain a professional online site and LinkedIn profile;
  • Create a resume and interview materials;
  • Establish and cultivate a professional learning network (PLN);
  • Understand basic formative and summative evaluation skills.

 

ArtEduc 7736: TEACHING AND LEARNING IN ART MUSEUMS

Broad topics of museums and teaching are explored through:

  • Learning a brief history and context of teaching and learning in art museums;
  • Contextualizing the work of museum educators and field of museum education through an overview of the typical job responsibilities, expectations, and areas of expertise for art museum educators;
  • Discussing the relationship between theory and practice in art museum education and introducing particularly salient theories of knowing, learning, and teaching;
  • Developing personal educational philosophies that guide professional practices;
  • Considering research about particular audiences in museums;
  • Learning and practicing contemporary pedagogical strategies in art museums;
  • Researching current vehicles for delivering in-person, printed, and digital educational information and experiences.
  • Utilizing the rich art museum and gallery environments at Ohio State and in Columbus as contexts for teaching.

 

ArtEduc 7735: ART MUSEUM HISTORY, THEORY, & PRACTICES

Over the past 40–50 years, North American museums have undergone a radical shift in their purposes, practices, and philosophies; continually reinventing themselves as a part of and in response to the cultural, social, and political contexts in which they exist. Museums have long been a complex symbol of power and privilege in Western culture and contemporary museums have deep roots in the museological imperatives of reifying political prestige through the display of objects while promoting nationalistic or civic pride.

Together we will develop an assessment of the historical, philosophical, and theoretical foundations of art museums in the United States and explore the discursive economic, social, political, and educational forces that shaped them into the institutions we encounter today. Our approach will be both chronological and critical—as we move through the decades, we will read primary, secondary, and contemporary sources and academic texts that reveal salient issues in North American museums.

Poststructuralism provides theoretical lenses for our inquiry—through critical reasoning, we will build individual and collaborative understandings of museums, while concurrently noting the individuals, narratives, and histories that appear to be ignored, overlooked, or purposefully omitted. We will also consider the professional roles and contexts of museums, including professional staff, funding structures, codes of ethics, and best practices. Throughout the course, we will pay particular attention to the development and growth of art museum education as a profession and a field of study.

 

ArtEduc 5671: ORGANIZATIONAL LEADERSHIP IN THE NONPROFIT ARTS

This class goes into some depth with major themes in arts administration and management, including planning and development, marketing and public relations, personnel management, fiscal management, board relations, labor relations, and government relations/advocacy. Additionally, you will be introduced to arts management from the perspectives of directors, administrators, artists, academics, and participants as well as being expected to participate in the rich artistic and cultural communities of Columbus, Ohio and The Ohio State University.

Management in this course is defined as having four functions:

  1. Planning, or deciding what needs to be done, including setting goals, and determining objectives;
  2. Organizing, or converting plans into a course of action;
  3. Leading, or deciding how people are going to get things done through a shared vision and commitment;
  4. Controlling, or deciding if things are getting done and what to do about it if they aren’t, including monitoring work, checking goals, and taking corrective action.

An arts administrator is defined, in non-profit and academic contexts, as the person “empowered and authorized to carry out goals and policies defined by others such as a board of directors or some other governing entity” (p. 17).

An additional objective of this course is to develop a philosophical orientation that shapes your work. According our Byrnes, “Organizations at their core are not neutral entities. They are microcosms of society. Organizations are collections of individuals with belief, biases, and values” (p. 18). Knowing and being able to elucidate why you want an arts administrator/manager will form the foundation of your practice and set the tone for your organizational culture.

 

THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY

ART 409/ART H 409: MUSEUM STUDIES

Museum Studies explores the theory and practice of American art museums in the midst of philosophical and theoretical transformation, introduces students to professional practices in art museums, and contextualizes these practices within an academic framework. The course is held in the Palmer Museum of Art, which serves as a space wherein students may negotiate both the connections and dissimilarities between theory and professional practice.

AED 513: PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT SUMMER INSTITUTE

co-taught with Dr. B. Stephen Carpenter, II

A new graduate-level Art Education summer session course with a focus on intersections between contemporary art and curriculum. The course is a collaborative effort between the Palmer Museum of Art and the Art Education Program, and employs an innovative instructional approach that combines an intensive one-week intensive on-campus experience (Monday through Friday and Saturday morning) followed by correspondence, discussion, and presentation of a final student projects on ANGEL during the second six-week summer session.

ART/ARTH 475: CONTEMPORARY WOMEN ARTISTS

The participants in this course will investigate the work of women and genderqueer artists who currently work professionally in the global world of art and visual culture. Using feminist theoretical and intersectional lenses, we will develop understandings of the social, historical, cultural, and sexual discourses that shape the work of contemporary women artists and the ways in which race, class, ethnicity, sexual orientation, (dis)ability, caregiver status, education, and gender identity inform their work.

 ART 100: CONCEPTS AND CREATION IN THE VISUAL ARTS

Art 100 is intended to provide a basic introduction to the ideas, theories, works of art, and artists that comprise the world of contemporary art and visual culture, which spans from approximately 1980 to the present. This course introduces historical and theoretical foundations of contemporary art practice, provides a framework for interpreting works of contemporary art, and examines contemporary art and artists using a thematic approach. Students will also become familiar with a variety of processes and materials used in the creation of contemporary art as well as creating works of their own.