Caucus of Social Theory in Art Education (CSTAE) Column: Fall 2023

Making the Case for Making the Case

Column by: Luke Meeken, CSTAE Coordinator-Elect

The spring and summer have been busy as always for CSTAE, with a full slate of presentations at the National Convention in April, our annual in-person board meeting and town hall, and the publication of two issues of the Journal of Social Theory of Art Education (JSTAE). At the board meeting, we welcomed our new Treasurer & Membership Coordinator, Eunkyung Hwang, and new Associate Digital Curator, Catalina Hernández-Cabal. We also began developing plans for making JSTAE articles and CSTAE presentations more accessible through multimodal archiving. The themes of access and equity also shaped recent revisions to the CSTAE bylaws, voted in at the board meeting. The revisions incorporated a more democratic and inclusive conception of social theory, and made board positions more accessible. At the board meeting, we also acknowledged that the pandemic disrupted many people’s finances and habits, leading to significant member attrition. This reality surfaced our rhetorical need to articulate the relevance of CSTAE to both parting members and prospective members.

The question of relevance and accessibility of social theory, and of CSTAE, to the present sociomaterial context surfaced throughout the convention for me. I talked with new teachers from Florida and Texas, underserved by “alternative certification programs” that left them foundering. When discussing our online Curriculum Resource with an interested attendee, they asked me pointedly whether our curricula and unit plans included strategies for teachers in oppressive states to help them “Trojan-horse” in socially relevant curricular content. At the opening ceremonies for the convention, there was an uncomfortable moment when representatives of TAEA’s executive board acknowledged the presence of teachers from Uvalde, and, seemingly unable to acknowledge the source of the violence those teachers and their students experienced, offered them a free 1-year NAEA membership and a kiln. The idea that these gifts make those teachers or their students any safer is absurd on its face. But it prompted me to consider: How are we making the case that it is not absurd to argue that social theory may address the material, legal, and social roots of the problems contemporary teachers face and the material, corporeal costs of those problems?

It is neither possible nor advisable in this short news update to argue a case for social theory, and the work of CSTAE, in the face of present organized oppressive movements designed to de-professionalize teaching; punish relevant, liberatory, and compassionate pedagogies; and endanger the lives of vulnerable children and teachers. Rather, I would use this space to call attention to the reality that CSTAE members may want to make some form of that argument in all that they do.

As an illustration, I point to Volume 42 of JSTAE, which is full of work that draws meaningful, actionable connections between social theory and the demands of the present political moment. Caitlyn Black’s (2023) “Monumental Impact: Honoring the Life & Legacy of Dr. Melanie Buffington” draws contemporary theory on race, history, and power into conversation with the particular ways histories of race and power have been materialized in Richmond, Virginia. Black’s piece meaningfully deploys social theory to develop pedagogy that responds in a relevant and impactful way to extant (and violent) material conditions. Likewise, Lillian Lewis and Jason Cox’s (2023) “Whose Art Museum? Immersive Gaming as Irruption” describes a designed game, Mantles in the Museum, which not only functions as a pragmatic pedagogical exemplar but also does concrete political work, allowing students excluded from agency in museum institutions to develop roles for themselves that enable critical participation in museums’ curatorial processes. These are just two examples among many of work that makes an actionable case for the relevant application of social theory in myriad arts learning contexts.

Reading over this column, I worry I am coming across as a bit of a mirthless pragmatist. I recognize the value for art, research, and teaching that open-ended exploration without a preoccupation with application or relevance can achieve. There are countless works, in JSTAE and elsewhere, that have meaningfully informed my teaching, which engaged with social theory in abstract ways. This column is simply intended as an account of the experiences I had at the National Convention this year, and the felt exigencies those experiences left me with.

References

Black, C. M. (2023). Monumental impact: Honoring the life & legacy of Dr. Melanie Buffington. Journal of Social Theory in Art Education, 42, 5–14.

Cox, J., & Lewis, L. (2023). Whose art museum? Immersive gaming as irruption. Journal of Social Theory in Art Education, 42, 52–63.

Emily Jean Hood, CSTAE Coordinator
University of Arkansas at Little Rock. Email: ehood@ualr.edu