Higher Education Division Column: Spring 2023

Critical Conversations and Celebrations—Join us at the 2023 NAEA Convention in San Antonio!

As the Higher Education Division Directors prepare for the 2023 NAEA Convention, we look forward to the generative combination of events hosted by our Division that aim to both celebrate the significant achievements of higher educators and to create space for Division members to engage in critical conversations around issues impacting the field. In this newsletter column, we therefore offer a preview of some of our sessions.

In terms of critical conversations, each year at the Convention, our Division hosts a Conversation With Colleagues session as a time to connect and share in dialogue with other art educators. Last year, we saw the dialogue coalesce around pressing issues regarding

• enrollment concerns and corresponding art teacher shortages, and
• concerns about how to recruit a more diverse population of students into art education programs.

Importantly, these concerns were then brought to the NAEA Board and, due to similar concerns from other Divisions, one result was the recent call for applications for a new Art Education Teacher Recruitment and Retention Task Force. This highlights how our critical conversations can matter and prompt action within NAEA. What concerns might you bring to the conversation this year? Join us Friday at 11:30am.

Another place where critical conversations happen is in our Higher Education Forums. The topics for these sessions are similarly generated by issues that come to the surface at the convention. This year, our forums address the following topics:

1. Art Education Teaching and Research in a Divisive Political Climate: What Have We Missed?
This session will include presentations by four panelists whose work addresses questions such as:

• As art educators, researchers, policy makers, and leaders, how do we navigate a divisive political climate?
• How can we equip current and future art teachers with socially empowering curriculum within the growing control of discourse imposed in many states and schools?
• While channeling some art education research and practice through a socially engaged route, what other impending and much-needed areas have we missed?

Saturday, 2pm
Facilitators: Hyunji Kwon (Southeastern Region Director) and Felix V. Rodriguez Suero (Western Region Director)

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2. Academics Navigating the Job Market: Challenges, Responsibilities, and Nuanced Approaches
This session will include presentations by four panelists who will discuss questions such as:

• What are we not talking about in relation to the challenges of academic job searches?
• What successes have you seen in hiring and search processes and what challenges persist?
• What is the responsibility of faculty to mentor graduate students for the job market?
• What tools, experiences, and mindsets do applicants need to be successful in this rapidly changing field?

Friday, 1:30pm
Facilitators: Carissa DiCindio (Pacific Region Director) and Kate Collins (Eastern Region Director)

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We hope you will attend both the Forums and the Conversation With Colleagues session at the Convention, where you can become a part of the critical conversations that might fuel the direction of future inquiry and action through NAEA.

Beyond these substantial opportunities for discussion around vital topics, we also look forward to recognizing the outstanding achievements of those in our Division. At the Convention, we will celebrate those receiving the following awards:

• National Higher Education Art Educator
• Eastern, Southeastern, Western, and Pacific Region Higher Education Art Educators
• Preservice Chapter Sponsor of Excellence Award

Please join us to commend the winners at both the Conversation With Colleagues session and the All Division Awards Ceremony, which will take place Thursday at 4pm.

Of course, we will also have a robust group of Higher Education Division sessions that are sure to inspire additional conversation.

And, last but not least, we will be transitioning to a new team of Higher Education Division Directors, whom we will introduce at multiple sessions and in the summer news column. The new Directors include:

Division Director: Trina Harlow
Division Director-Elect: Yichien Cooper
Eastern Region Director: Sohee Koo
Southeastern Region Co-Directors: Hayon Park and Hazel Bradshaw-Beaumont
Western Region Director: Christina Bain
Pacific Region Director: Dustin Garnet

The current team of Directors has greatly enjoyed the work we have had the opportunity to engage in over the past 2 years, and we look forward to seeing what this amazing group of incoming directors will do for our Division!

Many thanks to the outgoing team of Directors, who have given generously of their time and talents! This team was truly incredible to work with, and I will sincerely miss our monthly meetings!

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Kate Collins, Eastern Region Director
Carissa DiCindio, Pacific Region Director
Hyunji Kwon, Southeastern Region Director
Felix V. Rodriguez-Suero, Western Region Director

We can’t wait to see everyone in San Antonio!

Sincerely,
Christina Hanawalt
Higher Education Division Director, 2021–2023

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Column by:

Christina Hanawalt, Higher Education Division Director
Associate Professor of Art Education, University of Georgia, Athens. Tel: 717-991-1153. Email: hanawalt@uga.edu

Elect: Trina Harlow, Adjunct Professor of Art Education, University of North Texas, Denton. Email: drtrinaharlow@gmail.com

Regional Directors:
Eastern: Kate Collins, collinsk8@yahoo.com
Southeastern: Hyunji Kwon, hyunji.kwon86@gmail.com
Western: Felix Rodriguez-Suero, felixrodriguezrd@hotmail.com
Pacific: Carissa DiCindio, cdicindio@email.arizona.edu