Behind the Scenes: The Fall 2015 Penn State Art Education Colloquium

This article describes the purpose and structure of A ED 590: Colloquium, a graduate course offered in Fall 2015 at Penn State designed to provide graduate students and faculty with a forum to critically consider the 1965 Seminar in Art Education for Research and Curriculum Development. As a collaborative effort among the graduate faculty in the Art Education program, the design and instruction of the course ran in contrast to more typical practices by a single instructor. Through the spectrum of research agendas and interests enacted by the Art Education faculty, graduate students, and guest scholars, the weekly course sessions served as spaces in which participants shifted from disengaged spectators to engaged participants. Through this shared and engaged approach, all participants assumed ownership of how they read and responded to the 1965 seminar. The article opens with an overview of the purpose and context for the course. The overview includes the weekly course sessions and the final course assignment. Next, the article describes the focus and preparation of one of the weekly class sessions through an e-mail exchange between the course instructor and a guest scholar. The article concludes with speculation about the current historical moment in which the course is situated within the field of art education, and possibilities for what may emerge in the field in the next 50 years.