Welcome to the Ohio State Department of Arts Administration, Education and Policy website.
We are easing into our second year in our fabulously renovated Sullivant Hall and enjoying every minute. For those of you who have been affiliated with thedepartment for a long time, there are some staff changes you might want to know about. Brian Javor has taken the role of department assistant, Michelle Attias-Goldstein is our fiscal/HR officer and Kirsten Thomas continues her work as our graduate coordinator. Most recently, Mark McGuire was appointed program manager for field experiences to begin in January 2016. Mark will manage the BA in arts management internships and the bachelor’s in art education student teaching and licensure protocols. He also will perform a host of other critical duties that contribute to the quality of our undergraduate students’ professional experiences.
As has been true of art education throughout its history, we continue to meet the needs of culture and be open to new challenges. Our new name reflects our diverse mission (keeping education in the center of it all). The Department of Arts Administration, Education and Policy currently offers six degrees: BAE in art education, BA in arts management, MA in art education, MA in arts policy and administration and PhD in arts administration, education and policy. Our revised, renewed and positively amazing online MA in art education goes online in summer 2016. As you probably know, we also offer an undergraduate minor in arts entrepreneurship, a graduate interdisciplinary specialization in material culture and department specializations in museum education and cultural policy & arts management. These indicate our broad, interdisciplinary understanding of the arts as cultural phenomena.
Last November our department hosted Penn State and Teachers College graduate students and faculty at the annual GRAE (graduate research in art education) conference, a small but very powerful graduate research conference. Our students and faculty enjoyed hearing about some of the most innovative research in art education by some of the most exciting young scholars! The presenters received amazing feedback from Ohio State alumni -Mindi Rhoades and Mike Kellner.
Study abroad programs are getting quite a bit of encouragement from the university and we are excited to play our part to bring international experiences to our students. In summer 2015 Karen Hutzel and Joni Acuff took a group of students to Kingston, Jamaica to engage with our Ohio State alumni in the arts both in schools and communities in collaboration with the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts. This fabulous learning adventure will be repeated in 2017. Wayne Lawson continues his yearly educational trip to Santiago, Chile so students can discover what arts administration, education, entrepreneurship and policy looks like in post-Pinochet Chile. Shari Savage and Christine Ballengee Morris will take a group to Dublin, Ireland in summer 2016 to discover the material culture from Neolithic times to the present, from earthworks to architecture in collaboration with University College Dublin.
Finally, three of our AAEP family are retiring. Dennis Cannon stepped down from his role as coordinator of student teaching in August 2015. Wayne Lawson will retire at the end of December 2015, and Sydney Walker will retire in May 2016. There are no words for our gratitude to each of them for their many years of dedicated service to the department or how very much we will miss them. Though I will not be retiring, I will be stepping down as chair at the end of the summer to spend more time teaching, making art and doing research. Watch for the announcement of a new chair!
Wishing you health, prosperity, happiness and love.
Best wishes,
Debbie Smith-Shank
Professor and Chair