I thought it might be useful to outline some strategies for thinking about trauma-informed pedagogy in your classroom. This is based on multiple workshops I’ve run, my own experiences in the classroom, and a twitter thread. In case folks are coming to this website and are not on Twitter, it seemed beneficial to post a recent thread that offered some… Read more →
Tag: pedagogy
Helping Students with Lecture & Discussion Outlines for Online Art History Classes
If you found yourself unable to concentrate due to the stressors, fears, and upset of COVID-19, then you were not alone. I found my ability to focus on small tasks almost impossible at moments. I also had the hardest time retaining information. With frequent check-ins with my students, it was clear they too were struggling as well. We brainstormed at… Read more →
Reimagining Participation Points in the Classroom, Oh My!
After years of experimentation (with successes and failures), I’ve finally settled on a great way to reimagine participation in the classroom. I am fully aware that this won’t work for many people, or even most classes, but it has worked wonders for my art history classes under 30 students. Once I found the winning recipe, I realized I’d never be… Read more →
Teaching Activities for Covid-19
I thought it might be useful to share some activities that I created in light of the covid-19 pandemic. These are all activities that I created in a space of a day (!!!). A couple are based on ones I’ve used in class multiple times; others are brand new, but do the work of an activity or discussion I might… Read more →
Get students to escape the art history classroom (digitally!)
I recently had to be away from my class at the College Art Association Conference. I run an in-class escape-room activity for my World Art History class, so I thought I’d see if I could create one in a digital format. While it is obviously not the same as being in person, I will say that the students enjoyed it and… Read more →
Special Collections and Practicing Art History in a World Art History survey class
Special Collections and Practicing Art History in a World Art History survey class In my world art history class (15th-century to the present, second-half of a two-semester sequence) a couple of years ago, I decided I wanted to find an alternative to the research paper. The class always fills at 25 students, and I had become tired of research papers.… Read more →
Revisiting The Carters’ “Apes**t” again and again: An activity in 5 stages
In my world art history class (15th century to the present), I’ve tried to find a number of ways to showcase for students the benefits of repeated looking, of deep observation, among other things. I also–of course–want them to realize that art can be used in a variety of ways in our contemporary moment. I’ve done this in a number… Read more →
Curatorial Acquisition Activity for the Flipped Art History Classroom
In my Latin American art class this semester (Spring 2020), I’ve created a few new in-class activities that have worked really well. One of the best has been a curatorial acquisition activity. As of late, when creating activities for a flipped classroom environment, I’ve wanted more “real world” examples for art history students. [Side note: This has been HARD!] I… Read more →
Assessing the Usefulness and Validity of Online Sources, or Developing Information Literacy
A couple of years ago I published an article in the Journal of Interactive Technology and Pedagogy called “Doing Digital Art History in a Pre-Columbian Art Survey Class: Creating an Omeka Exhibition Around the Mixtec Codex Zouche-Nuttall (2018). As part of this essay I shared examples of assignments I use in a Pre-Columbian art class, which are part of a… Read more →
Is Achilles a Hero? Debates in the Large-Lecture Classroom
One of the best decisions I’ve made more recently is introducing debates into my large lecture (200+ students) class that focuses on the ancient and medieval Mediterranean world. They energized the class, helped students review material each week, and helped them to think more critically. They also helped to make a 3-hour class more bearable. If you are interested in… Read more →
Outlining an Intro Essay for Smarthistory: A Flipped Classroom Activity
In my last post, I posed the question of where does one even start in flipping the classroom. I’ve read a number of blog posts about this very idea. I’ve been to workshops that address the flipped classroom. But I always want tangibles. I want people to give me specific examples so that I can see how they actually did… Read more →
Flipping the Art History Classroom: Where do you even begin? Part 1
[This is post 1 of several posts that I will write about flipping the classroom. Stay tuned!] I recently gave a presentation at our center for teaching excellence about some ways in which I’ve flipped my classes. As a long-time “user” of team-based learning (TBL), I’ve had lots of successes and failures when it comes to flipping the classroom. I… Read more →
