Spring 2002        

CSTAE Coordinator's Report

Go to: http://www2.tltc.ttu.edu/kkb/disc2_welc.htm  This is the threaded discussion page of the Caucus web site. Under the thread "Miami Check-in", let everyone know how we can connect with you. Let’s get together! Be sure to check out the whole Caucus web site at http://www.personal.psu.edu/ktk2/cstae/cstae.html.

At the time, the horrible events of September 11 in New York were described by many as being ‘like a movie.’ Western responses to the sense of threat brought into focus on that day in New York have resulted in sweeping actions and rhetoric. Has the west been transformed because of a discovered vulnerability, and has this transformation made us more militant or more reflective?…more fundamentalist or more opened and inquisitive? The very recently published issue (Volume 55, Number 2) of Art Education faces these questions directly by devoting itself severally to students’ perceptions of threat and a long overdue interest in middle eastern images and ideas. This is all very good and appropriate, though certainly no single publication can take the complex globalized inequities of our contemporary world and make them ‘better’. The upcoming volume of The Journal on Social Theory offers other stories, other critiques, and other possibilities.

Below are the Caucus on Social Theory sessions for the Miami conference. Among this brief but exemplary list of presentations you can find a wide range of theoretically thoughtful and provoking ideas about culture, art and education. As you will notice, our presence has been severely limited this year. The organizers of this year’s conference chose, without warning, to use a simplistic and vaguely explained demographic argument to justify cutting the Caucus back from approximately 20 sessions in the past few years to 6 (including administrative meetings). You are strongly urged to support your Caucus by attending as many of these sessions as possible. The Business meetings will all be devoted to redefining the Caucus and its roles in light of your future hopes for the organization. Your input and involvement are essential. Additionally, the Caucus will be allowed a 5-minute presentation at The Issue Groups Hearings  on Monday, March 25 between 10:00-11:50 AM in Imperial I . The Caucus has the microphone from 10:26-10:31 AM. Much of that presentation will focus on the role of the Caucus and the importance of supporting an adequate presence in the conference schedule. Your presence during that presentation will act to confirm our claim that the Caucus plays an important role in NAEA culture.

Fri  1:00 PM – 1:50
CAUCUS ON SOCIAL THEORY IN ART EDUCATION     Bordeaux
Memory As A Site of Transformative Art Pedagogy/ALL
Presented by: Dipti Desai with Ed Check

Fri  5:00 PM – 5:50
BUSINESS MEETING    Imperial II
Caucus on Social Theory Board Meeting
Presented by:  Michael J. Emme

Sat  8:00 AM – 8:50
CAUCUS ON SOCIAL THEORY IN ART EDUCATION     Bordeaux
Authors Roundtable:  Volune 22 JSTAE/CI/HE
Presented by:  jan jagodzisnki

Sat  3:00 PM – 3:50
CAUCUS ON SOCIAL THEORY IN ART EDUCATION     Beta (Four Points Sheraton Hotel)
Don’t Kick Sand In My Face!/ALL
Presented by:  Kathy Connors with Michael J. Phillips

Sun  3:30 PM – 3:55
CAUCUS ON SOCIAL THEORY IN ART EDUCATION    Imperial I
In Utero:  A Nomad Community Project/ALL
Presented by:  Moniques Richard

Mon  10:26-10:31AM
ISSUES GROUPS HEARINGS    Imperial I
Status Report from The Caucus on Social Theory

Mon  8:00 PM – 8:50
CAUCUS ON SOCIAL THEORY IN ART EDUCATION    Alpha (Four Points Sheraton Hotel)
Material Culture and Visual Culture Study Within Art Education/ALL
Presented by:  Doug Blandy with Paul E. Bolin

Tue  8:00 AM – 8:50
CAUCUS ON SOCIAL THEORY IN ART EDUCATION    Imperial III
In Spite of Institutions/ALL
Presented by: Drea Howenstein with Kevin Tavin

Muralist and activist educator Xavier Cortada is opening up his studio Sunday, March 24 from 8-10pm .  The LGBT and the Social Theory Caucus will be co-hosting music and food. Xavier is generously offering the space and an open bar. This should be a great time. For more details, attend one of the sessions!  Also, check out Xavier’s web site:
http://www.cortada.com/projects/2001/artcare/about.htm

In the organized chaos of film production, it is the script supervisor’s task to try to grasp the larger creative vision of directors, cinematographers and editors while simultaneously noticing the details of character, setting and costume to such an extent that breaks in the flow of the filmic story are avoided. In her web site, Julie Bateman  http://content.monster.com.au/arts/articles/7657   describes the role of script supervisor as one that requires both intelligence and creativity but is largely thankless.

The Caucus on Social theory has made a commitment to maintaining a rigorous discourse around the exploration of social justice and creative expression in art education. It may be that, for the moment, art educators and the larger educational community are focused on the importance and complexity surrounding issues of culture and justice. The Caucus represents more than 20 years of intelligent, creative and sometimes thankless inquiry around these themes. It may be that everything changed after September 11. Then again, maybe not. I am guessing that there is a continuing need for the critical insight and creative vision that you and other Caucus members represent.

Join in! Renew your membership! Get Involved! Make a difference.
http://www.personal.psu..edu/ktk2/cstae/member.html

As you see within the Social Caucus the potential for you to make meaningful, activist art and art education, I hope that you will contact me (memme@ualberta.ca ) as co-ordinator, or Dennis Fehr ( kudef@ttacs.ttu.edu ) as NAEA News columnist, jan jagodzinski (jan.jagodzinski@ualberta.ca ) as journal editor, or Karen Keifer-Boyd (kk-b@psu.edu) as past president. 
 
 

**************************************************************************************************