From June 14 to June 27, 2015, Drs. Karen Hutzel and Joni Acuff traveled to Kingston, Jamaica with 12 undergraduate and graduate students on a study abroad. While the majority of the students were from the Department of Arts Administration, Education, and Policy, the reach for the program was university wide, attracting participation from other disciplines such as Physics and Early Childhood Education.

This program, titled Exploring Jamaican Arts and Culture, focused on arts and cultural practices in schools, colleges, museums, and cultural institutions in Jamaica. Working with our partner institution in Jamaica, the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts (EMCVPA), the students engaged with art teachers, arts professors, visual artists, musicians, museum practitioners and community based art educators who assisted in the exploration and analyzing of policies, practices, content and pedagogies of the arts in Jamaica. Additionally, students also engaged in visual literacy skills such as reading and critiquing visual and contextual representations of Caribbean arts and culture. The goal of this analysis was to broaden students’ understanding of arts and culture in general and specific to Jamaica, particularly cultural practices we have often come to accept within our national and local experiences. Integral in this study abroad experience were investigations about race relations, culture, and language in Jamaica. Students were asked to reflect on their learning through writing and visual creation. Students were also encouraged to reflect on personal experiences in the arts as a point of reference and as a space through which to critically analyze cultural norms and accepted practices.