Higher Education Events

Discover the fascinating origins and meanings of the Easter Island Moai with author Patrick Frank. Explore the unique functions of these iconic sculptures through the latest archaeological research.

A cornerstone of art historical instruction, the slide-based lecture employs a passive learning model where students sit in the dark and listen to an expert before them. While art history lectures can be engaging, they are not as effective as active learning methods to build understanding of art historical content or skills of visual analysis and communication. This session offers guidance to teachers who want to include interactive assignments, student collaboration, and problem-based learning in their classes. We will also consider how to align such methods with course learning objectives and how to integrate formative assessment opportunities to improve students' performance.

This session addresses the flipped classroom model for art history instruction. Drawing upon the speaker’s experience with this pedagogical model in undergraduate classes of 15 to 38 students, the webinar examines the principles behind flipped classrooms, then presents an array of strategies (and challenges) for teaching art history in this format. Topics addressed include learning outcomes, student accountability, skill-building versus content memorization, engagement techniques, classroom technology, and assessment.

Art History isn't simply the history of Art. Art history presents the history of a civilization, its people, and the way society perceives itself. Nineteenth-century artist Albert Bierstadt, member of the Hudson River School and premier member of the Rocky Mountain School, exemplifies America's ideals regarding nature, wilderness, and the vast unknown wonders of the American West. The fledgling nation in America might lack the grand artistic traditions and monuments of Europe and Great Britain, but America was a massive expanse of unexplored and untouched wilderness. Bierstadt's dreamlike landscapes reveal America’s dreams and hopes for new beginnings amid wonders yet unseen.