Art & Art Education | Teachers College Columbia University

This course guides students in the creation of interdisciplinary secondary-school curriculum inspired by artworks from New York City museums' collections. Far from making certain subject areas subservient to others, each discipline lends to the process its unique ways of knowing, contributing towards common educational goals.

An examination of research studies and strategies for conducting research in the arts and humanities.

A basic course in printmaking for the beginning student. Each semester focuses on one topic of the following: Silkscreen, Japanese Woodblock or Lithography. Group and individual instruction to enhance the skills and aesthetic perception of each student. Limited registration.

Intaglio is an ancient process in which artists cut, scratch, or etch the design into a matrix such as plastic or copper. Intaglio and etching produces three-dimensional surfaces using various techniques such as engraving, dry point, and etching, all of which will be explored in depth. This course encourages exploration of personal ideas through hands-on experiences with materials. Limited registration.

Development of fundamental painting skills and understandings within the quest for individual expression and style. Acrylics, collage, and drawing employed.

This class explores video as a medium for artistic expression and social inquiry. Students will learn how to produce video artworks incorporating aesthetic, conceptual and technical issues, designing visually effective and compelling video experiences. Technical components include all aspects of image production: image recording, basic editing and final output.

This course will combine hands-on materials explorations, discussions of curriculum, presentations of students’ artwork, and instructional approaches that support artistic learning and its role in the overall growth and development of infants and young children. Students will explore a variety of art media and techniques and apply what they learn about the unique properties of materials to lesson plans that make meaningful connections between classroom curricula and the arts. Ways in which art experiences can be used to promote and enrich social studies, language arts, math, and science will be discussed throughout the sessions, as well as adaptations for children who come with diverse experiences and special needs. Discussions will include ways to motivate, communicate, and respond to children’s artwork. 

This course explores issues related to cultural diversity and examines their impact on the practices of art and art education. Students reflect about curriculum content, pedagogical approaches, and human relations in the diverse art classroom.

Recommended for all degree candidates in elementary education. An examination of the role of the senses, emotions, and intellect in artistic development and of the layered integrations they form over time. Discussion of ways in which developmental insights are basic to the design and implementation of exemplary visual arts lessons and offer critical starting points for research.

Corequisite A&HA 4202. Introduction to curriculum theory and design in the larger context of education and schooling. The course also explores alternative conceptual models as reflected in different art curricula and engages students in review of curricular issues related to learning outcomes, standards, and assessment in art education.

This studio course introduces students to the foundations of physical computing, electronics, and creative coding. In this course, students will learn how to use sensors, micro-controllers, and actuators to create interactive objects and digital experiences that extend beyond the computer screen. Students will develop a critical and creative eye for interactive forms of artistic expression. Weekly hands-on labs, assignments, and readings will help students gain technical proficiency with digital materials and making. Prerequisite: none.

An introduction to major historical events and underlying beliefs, values, and practices that have influenced contemporary art and art education programs at all levels of instruction in the U.S. as well as internationally.

An analysis of current philosophies, theories, and practices in art and art education at all levels of instruction. Programs in public schools, higher education, museum education, and other non-traditional settings are examined, along with advocacy initiatives and policy issues appropriate to the various issues discussed.

Suggested for all students in all degree programs. Opportunity for in-depth and sustained exploration of the properties, structures, and expressive uses of selected art materials. The course aims to enrich and extend personal studio practice and, in parallel, provoke insights into the role of materials in supporting, integrating, and challenging the artistic growth of students in a variety of educational settings.

Corequisite A&HA 4281. An examination of sensory, biological, affective, cognitive, and socio-cultural issues influencing continuing development in the visual arts. Discussion of ways in which developmental insights are basic to designing challenging lessons which enrich growth and learning as well as offering critical starting points for research. Required of all candidates seeking New York State Art Certification K-12.

This studio course invites students to survey the many creative possibilities of new media in art education. By engaging in a hands-on dialogue with digital materials, students will explore the impact of technology in the art room, the changing role of the art educator, and the new importance of making in the curriculum. The outcome is a playful and transformative inquiry into new media and how we can utilize them to create new forms. Prerequisite: none.

An examination of the challenges facing art museums in the twentieth century, with a focus on changing interpretations of objects and how museums respond to public need.

Enrollment limited. For beginners only. Introduction to the basic techniques of hand building, the potters wheel, and slab construction with emphasis on personal expression. Surface decoration and three-dimensional design. Stoneware and earthenware clay bodies and firing procedures will be addressed.

An exploration into the world of the third dimension through a range of styles and materials. There will be studio experimentation and discussion around working with various digital fabrication and sculptural processes such as laser etching/cutting, 3D printing, digital embroidering, mold making/casting, woodworking, and metalworking. Contemporary art practices and interdisciplinary practice will be a focus of the course, and one of the classes will meet at a museum or gallery. No prior experience required. 

This course is designed to introduce students to digital photography and the applications used to produce images. Digital cameras have become both the pastime and the instrument of choice for professional photographers. There have been more pictures taken this decade than in a century since its creation. The class will cover the fundamentals of the digital camera, the Photoshop application for image enhancement, and using the Epson photo printer to produce images on inkjet paper. We will review the multiple functions of digital cameras and how to apply this to creative image making. Technical terms ISO, white balance, file sizes, pixels,  resolution, and exposure compensation will be demystified. Through weekly presentations, we will familiarize ourselves with color, composition and thematic approaches. Students will also be introduced to contemporary photographers as we apply ourselves to our own unique vision. Please bring your camera to first class.

Exploration of basic photographic techniques and their application to learning in a variety of educational environments.

This lesson plan seminar aims to provide structure, format and context to the development of lesson, acknowledging the pedagogical purviews essential to good art teaching. Lecture and discussion topics are linked to extensions of other courses as a way for students to grasp the interrelatedness of their course studies.

Studio-based course that explores video methods as a creative tool for expression and learning in the studio art classroom. Students will learn aspects of image production, including recording, digitization, basic editing and final output. Tools and technologies addressed in the course include camcorders, I-pads, I-phones, animation cameras and diverse software (I-movie, I-stop motion, video-apps, and basic Final Cut Pro). The course focuses on the creation of art videos; as such, the class will screen video art from diverse artists, discuss these examples from the perspective of contemporary art and aesthetics, and participate in technical workshops to learn video technologies such as digital story telling, video animation, video journaling, and video sharing in the studio art classroom. In addition to other assignments through the course, students will produce a final art video project, including concept development, presentation, and research. Throughout the course, attention will also be given to issues of media literacy in art education as well as applications to teaching in studio art contexts.

Permission of instructor required. Professional activities in the field under faculty supervision.

Required of art teacher certification majors. To be taken concurrently with A&HA 4080, Artistic development of children, and A&HA 4088, Artistic development: Adolescence to adulthood. Involves observations in schools of various types; videotaping of contrasting teaching styles and curricular approaches; analysis of perceptual, artistic, and societal assumptions implicit within programs observed.

Prerequisites: A&HA 4080, A&HA 4081, A&HA 4085, A&HA 4087, A&HA 4088, and A&HA 4281. M.A. candidates should plan to take student teaching full-time in their last full year of the program towards completion of their degree. For majors only. A variety of supervised teaching experiences (7-12), supplemented by conferences, evaluation, and seminars. The student teacher completes 200 hours in each placement observing, assisting, teaching, and evaluating. Mandatory for those seeking state certification in art in New York State and other states.

Prerequisites: A&HA 4080, A&HA 4081, A&HA 4085, A&HA 4087, A&HA 4088, and A&HA 4281. M.A. candidates should plan to take student teaching full-time in their last full year of the program towards completion of their degrees. For majors only. A variety of supervised teaching experiences (K-6) supplemented by conferences, evaluation, and seminars. The student teacher completes 200 hours in each placement observing, assisting, teaching, and evaluating. Required of those seeking state certification in New York State and other states.

Work conference or institute.

Permission of instructor required. Professional activities in the field under faculty supervision.

Permission of instructor required.

This course explores research methods and methodologies grounded in the practices, theories, and contexts of the visual arts. Content includes examining current research paradigms, with a focus on art-based educational research and engaging with research as a visualizing practice. Students learn the basics of research, learn how to assess and recognize methodologies, and explore ways of creating and representing knowledge visually. The course is delivered through lectures, studio and writing workshops, and group seminars/presentations. Required for M.A. and Ed.M. and recommended for partial fulfillment of Ed.D. methods course requirements. 

Drawing from life, students learn strategies to generate lines, vary their marks, see and draw negative space, light, shadows, shapes, zones and compositions. We reframe our knowledge and habits to in order to see the raw sensory details needed to draw. New observation, concentration, creativity, and idea generation skills will be developed. Almost half the semester is figure drawing from a model -- gesture, volume, and portraiture. All levels welcomed. One class at a museum or gallery.

Artists capable of independent endeavor share their ideas and work in critiques and discussions and undertake advanced artistic problems suggested by the instructor or of their own devising.

An examination of new technologies, materials, concepts, attitudes, both in their current forms as well as future applications. Participants will investigate a personal topic through field experience, hands-on demonstration, observation, readings and lectures. The topic focuses for the course will be drawn from art and design/studio/research/ psychology/teaching.

Permission of Instructor Required. This studio-based course is designed to assist students to continue exploring the diverse possibilities and various processes of using paint, painting media, digital media and tools to explore and construct painting languages, conceptual frameworks, and personal expressions.

This class both addresses the intimidation of figure drawing and lays out a number of different practical strategies for tackling it. The class is open to students who have experience drawing and those who are beginners.

Prerequisite: A&HA 4081 or consent of instructor. This course will enable students to design, implement, and evaluate curricula in higher art education. It will address how the teaching, learning, and making of art has changed and how this affects curriculum design in theory and practice. Two questions will be assessed. What do students of art need to learn in order to grow and become successful in their profession? What do teachers need to know about their students in order to facilitate versatile and strong educators?

The course will provide participants with an introduction to historical and contemporary debates that frame art education and contemporary art practices. It will examine philosophical perspectives on art, the place of philosophical thinking in studio teaching, and models of reflective practices in art pedagogy. The goal is to introduce students of art and art education to seminal discussions in the field, to facilitate learning through critical thinking, and to help students develop their own philosophies of art in education.

Participants will visit New York City museums and use the multiple resources of the museums to develop personalized curriculum materials. Enrollment limited.

Required seminar for Ed.M. and Ed.D. students. An examination of the role of visual culture in contemporary life, employing experiences from art works, museums, galleries and alternative spaces, readings, and discussion.

An examination of the changing purposes of museums, both American and international, as they confront new technologies and expectations for greater participation in education. Issues of ethics and standards for museum education will also be discussed in the context of the section reform movement.

Further studies of ceramics with an emphasis on individual projects on an advanced level. Educational aspects and personal expression in the medium along with marketing opportunities for the professional craftsperson will be discussed.

Permission of instructor required. Further studies of sculptural elements with an emphasis on content, craft, and individual development. Advanced sculpture is designed to help those who have taken Introduction to Sculpture to develop a more independent practice.

This class is designed for students who already have a basic knowledge of the digital camera. The class will focus on a photographic project developed by the student. The project or theme could be documentary, portrait, landscape, or total conceptual image making.

In this course, students conduct independent-driven research in creative technologies to contribute to the field’s advancement. Under faculty supervision, students prepare their research for the course colloquium series. Students will consider hybrid practices, emerging research methodologies, and ethical implications of creative technologies. Addressing media theories and history, the course makes space for student research via inquiry-based projects that reach into communities within and beyond Teachers College.

Teachers who search for their own questions inspire students to do the same. They transform their curiosity into knowledge, empowering others to learn and grow with them. This course provides educators with ways to integrate technology into various learning environments. Students will utilize project-based learning, design-thinking and maker-centered learning to develop maker-projects and curricula for a diverse set of communities. The course will enable students to look at contemporary and historic examples of art, design, and technology &mdash as well as the social context in which these works were produced. Prerequisite: none.

This studio course enables students to work on technology-infused art and design projects. Students will learn multiple aspects of digital fabrication, 2D and 3D design. Facilitated by an instructor with an extensive background in maker-education, this course provides a rich support structure and the opportunity for peer learning. Workshops will give students the expertise needed to pursue their projects with knowledge and skill. Weekly meetings will allow students to share their processes and to receive feedback. Interested students will have the opportunity to participate in a gallery exhibition. Prerequisite: none.

An examination of ideas about the interdisciplinary role of the arts in traditional and nontraditional educational and administrative settings through analysis of programs, projects, policy issues, and political processes that involve the visual arts, dance, music, and theater.

Permission of instructor required. Professional activities in the field under faculty supervision.

The Creative Technologies Colloquium is a critical supplement to A&HA 5120 Creative Technologies Research Seminar. Students in the Seminar are required to enroll in the Creative Technologies Colloquium, which meets six times over the course of the semester. At each Colloquium, students will have an opportunity to present their research in an academic setting to receive feedback from their peers. Furthermore, the colloquium will incorporate outside presenters to serve as a model for students developing their own practice-based research as well as act as a networking event to meet others in the Creative Technologies field.

Independent study at Teachers College combined with workshops, lectures, and seminars at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Students work collaboratively with both Museum and College faculty to develop and carry out individual projects, which may lead to research and inquiry or to the development of instructional materials for different levels of schooling.

Permission of instructor required. Professional activities in the field under faculty supervision.

Permission of instructor required. Required for all M.A. and Ed.M. students. Guided independent work in research, culminating in the development of a masters thesis proposal.

A practical and theoretical ground for the discussion, development, and implementation of pedagogical philosophies, strategies, and practices by which art and design specialists come to teaching in art and design programs in higher education. The course attends to pedagogical discourses and practices; the administration and leadership of art as a discipline; and studio practice and art teaching as professional development.

Students investigate their creative practice from several critical perspectives and produce personal profiles and arts projects within educational and cultural contexts.

In this course students learn how to transform completed research papers into publishable articles. Through drafting, editing, and revising their work, and through instructor feedback and peer review, students will, over the course of the semester, produce an article manuscript ready for submission to a scholarly journal.

Permission of instructor required. Prerequisite: Substantial teaching and/or arts administration experience. The function of supervision and administration: Effective programs in city, county, and state school systems; inservice education and workshop techniques; school and community relationships; nontraditional settings such as museums, arts councils, etc.

Permission of instructor required. Professional activities in the field under faculty supervision.

Permission of instructor required. Qualified students work as interns with supervisors or administrators in selected sites. Provision is made for assessment of field-based competencies in fulfillment of program requirements.

Permission of instructor required. Guided experiences in the teaching of the arts in departments of metropolitan area colleges and museums. Sections: (1) Teaching in art programs: college, (2) Teaching in art programs: museum.

Required seminar for doctoral students who are completing qualifying papers, developing literature reviews, or exploring and applying research methods. The seminar includes faculty/student presentations, group discussions, and critiques.

Seminar for master's students who are completing their theses or doctoral students who are completing qualifying papers, developing literature reviews, or exploring and applying research methods. May be repeated.

Permission of instructor required. Seminar in classroom supervision and its application to student teaching and inservice training. On-site field experience, analysis of observation and assessment, readings and discussion. Participants must have a minimum of 5 years of teaching experience.

Specific problems of art and art education are examined. Different topics each semester. Permission of instructor required.

Permission of instructor required. Enrollment limited. For advanced independent study. Noncredit for majors only.

Permission of instructor required -- email your proposal for a concrete independent project with timelines before the semester begins. Meet as a group every other week with instructor and peers, also working on your own projects related to drawing (widely defined). Enrollment limited. For advanced independent study. Noncredit for majors only.

Permission of instructor required. Enrollment limited. For advanced independent study. Noncredit for majors only.

Permission of instructor required. Enrollment limited. For advanced independent study. Noncredit for majors only.

Permission of instructor required. Enrollment limited. For advanced independent study emphasizing exploring personal expression in the medium. Noncredit for majors only.

Permission of instructor required. Enrollment limited. Prerequisites: extensive experience in digital media and/or related technologies. For advanced independent study. Noncredit for majors only.

Permission of instructor required. Research and independent study under the direction of a faculty member.

Rating of certification Ed.M. and Ed.D. exhibitions offered in fulfillment of degree requirements. To be taken during the semester in which work is presented in the Macy Art Gallery.

Two required seminar sessions for doctoral students to help develop or refine topics of inquiry for research. The teaching format is flexible and includes faculty/student presentations, group discussions, and critiques. Section 2 is required of all doctoral students in the program in the semester following successful completion of written qualifying papers and involves preparation and presentations of dissertation proposal for approval. Sections: (1) Qualifying papers preparation (fall), (2) Dissertation proposal preparation (spring).

Individual advisement on doctoral dissertations. For requirements, see section in catalog on Continuous Registration for Ed.D. degree.