Who
wrote and developed this course?
Welcome!
I am Don H. Krug and for more than 23 years I have taught art education
for students in K-16. I am also an active participant in community
outreach and professional arts organizations at the local, national,
and international levels. I received a Ph.D. in Curriculum & Instruction
with an Art Education major from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Currently, I teach undergraduate and graduate courses at Ohio State
University. I typically cover socio-cultural issues in education,
curriculum integration, contemporary artists including non-mainstream
and ecological art, and new technologies. During the 2000-2001 academic
year, I received a Fulbright Award to live in British Columbia, Canada
and conduct research on the pedagogical development of teacher education
and the use of new technologies. When
I am not teaching or doing research, I am gardening, playing golf,
and traveling.
What
are the course topics?
This
online graduate and professional development course examines issues
about identity and place in contemporary art in the twenty-first
century. The PBS Art:21—Art in the Twenty-First Century
videos and online Web site serve as supportive resources.
(Videos are available for purchase from Davis Publications. We recommend
that you purchase or have access to these videos.) During this eleven-week
course, you will explore how ideas of identity and place are continually
being defined in contemporary society, especially in North America,
and how artists have interpreted, used, and transformed some of the
associated meanings and values through their artwork. This course
begins with the basic assumption that people make art in relation
to the social, cultural, historical, political, and economic contexts
of their everyday lives. It then explores ways that teachers can use
generalizations about identity and place in contemporary art in their
own teaching.
Identity
can be partially understood by examining ideas about the sense of
self in society: "Who am I?" (self-identity), "Who am I in relationship
to other people?" (social identity), and "How do we interact with
one another?" (social relations).
Place
can be partially understood by how people assign meaning and value
to a particular geographic location at a certain period of time. Meanings
of place vary within and across diverse social groups of people.
Why
examine the social, cultural, historical, and political contexts related
to identity and place?
People
have multiple perspectives about identity and place. At the heart
of arguments about identity and place are issues and problems associated
with societal and cultural prejudice and discrimination. These are
not imaginary conditions or boundaries, nor can these problems be
oversimplified or overgeneralized. Our investigation of identity and
place must be considered in terms of social, cultural, and historical
contexts. Therefore, you will need to be informed about how the social,
cultural, historical, and political contexts relate to identity and
place not just in art education, but in education and in societies
in general.
