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The discipline of Art History over the past 15
years
has been undergoing serious evaluation and
transformation. I feel the study of art history is
founded on the premise that artifacts embody and
reflect the beliefs and values of a particular society
as well as the individuals who make, commission, and
use them. Unlike text-based historical disciplines,
the history of art documents and interprets changes in
human society by taking works of art and other objects
of material/visual culture as its primary sources.
The history of art requires critical analysis and
interpretation of written texts to help document and
illuminate the context (these include social, economic,
political, and religious) in which artifacts are
produced and used. Art History is inherently an
interdisciplinary field that requires an open
attitude.
Pedagogy must be student-centered.
To implement this principle, I have always maintained a commitment
to
accessing that who constitutes the members of a
particular course in a given term. The changing mix
of students, experiences and skills must always be
taken into account when an instructor begins teaching
a course. Even though a professor teaches a class
previously taught, the repeat course cannot be
followed like a recipe. One should not begin a class
with preexisting expectations of what constitutes
acceptable aesthetic or cultural issues for
exploration. A teacher must remain open and avoid at
all times trying to force their particular
philosophical or ideological position onto a class or
an individual.
Homepage of Dr. Elaine A. King, Art Historian, Curator, and Critic, Carnegie Mellon School of Art Earthworks and Sacred Landscapes: Summer Study in the Southwest |