Spring 2002
Coordinator's Report to Delegate's Assembly
THE CAUCUS ON SOCIAL THEORY AND ART EDUCATION REPORT, November, 2001
The Caucus on Social Theory in Art Education (CSTAE) is the
most generalized of those NAEA interest groups which deal directly with ethics,
democracy, and social justice. Others include (but may not be limited to)
the Women's Caucus; The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgendered issues
Caucus; the Committee on Multiethnic Concerns; Special Needs; and Public
Policy and Arts Administration. Many members of these specific-issue groups
also belong to CSTAE.
The Caucus on Social Theory and Art Education is a community of classroom
teachers, artists, and university academics gathered around a shared concern
for social justice as it can be understood and acted out through teaching,
artmaking and theory. As a community the CSTAE offers a collection of resources
(in the form of the Journal, the newsletter, the column, and the conference)
that were conceived and implemented over the past 20 years. In that 20 year
history a diverse range of art educators have found the Caucus an important
place for pushing critical borders in their work.
A bedrock CSTAE assumption is that visual art cannot be separated from ethical
issues other than artificially. Not only does the study of art histories
support this, but demands placed on today's educators (regardless of subject)
make this even clearer. Hence, CSTAE's voice in national and international
art educational debate is critically important. From advertising, through
visual propaganda from the seemingly mundane writing of art histories to
the various forms that censorship takes, the CSTAE seeks to bring critical
light to the dangers of ignoring, or worse, denying the natural links of
art to ethics for our students in P-12 and higher education.
The constitutional mandate of The Caucus on Social Theory and Art Education (CSTAE) is:
- to promote the use of theoretical concepts from the
social sciences,which include, but are not limited to, anthropology, sociology,
and political science;
- to study visual culture and the teaching of art to
inform art educators about theory and practice in the social sciences, thus
acting as a liason between social scientists and art educators;
- to encourage research into the social context of visual culture and teaching art;
- and to develop socially relevant programs for use in the teaching of art
This year The CSTAE has continued to maintain a high quality website <http://www.personal.psu.edu/ktk2/cstae/cstae.html>
that serves as a hub for communication between members. We have published volume
21 of The Journal of Social Theory and Art Education. Volume 22 will go to press
around the time that this report is read at the conference in Miami. The JSTAE
is subscribed to by 14 libraries throughout the USA, in Brazil, Hong Kong, Canada,
and Australia. It is indexed in ERIC-Art and ERIC-Social Studies. The Centre for
Research and Development of the Hong Kong Institute of Education wrote that they
have included the JSTAE in their "Publications Guidelines for Academic Journals"
because they "think [it] is of a high academic standing" (Dora Mak, Assistant
Registrar, 9/4/96).
At the conference in New York the Caucus was able to sponsor a vibrant array
of 23 sessions that ranged from the intensely theoretical to the classroom
practical. A current profound concern of the CSTAE is the fact that our presence
in Miami has been severely curtailed by a decision made by Tom Hatfield.
When session proposals that had the CSTAE identified as the presenter's preferred
adjudicating body were forwarded to the CSTAE coordinator, we were notified
that the CSTAE could only select 6 proposals including business and board
meetings. In New York we were able to support 23 sessions. In Los Angeles
we were able to support 19.
The seemingly arbitrary and very poorly timed decision to reduce the CSTAE's
presence at our annual conference raises two immediate concerns. First, radically
changing the possibility of a proposal being accepted without properly informing
the membership is tantamount to fraud. This is particularly meaningful for
members whose careers depend on work juried by their peers for merit. Secondly,
formal acceptance as what is now called an interest group by the NAEA is
not a simple or casual process. The NAEA must develop guidelines for what
constitutes a minimum commitment to its interest groups. Without adequate
opportunity to explore issues at the annual conference, many interest groups
will have difficulty sustaining themselves. In a lengthy conversation with
Tom Hatfield when I contacted him with Caucus concerns over these cutbacks
he suggested that, in the absence of any guiding policy, his decision was
based simply on the membership numbers for various interest groups. Caucus
members have consistently put forward 25-30 well-considered sessions for
NAEA annual conferences. Our commitment to the quality of that gathering
certainly is not 1/4 of what it was last year. If a simplistic demographic
measure is the only criterion for distributing session times then the NAEA
is in danger of losing the diversity of thought that is an important contribution
of the NAEA's interest groups.
The Caucus on Social Theory continues to be a community that enages the social
dimensions of art and education. The work of exploring the relationships
between theory and practices in art and education involves the same dynamic,
critical commitment that each of us hopes to encourage in the students we
work for.
Submitted by Dr. Michael J. Emme <memme@ualberta.ca>
Coordinator, Caucus on Social Theory and Art Education
Select a Newsletter Item:
Coordinator's Report the Delegate's Assembly, November, 2001
CSTAE in Miami: NAEA Social Caucus Sessions
and Meeting Times
Thoughts from Past-Coordinator Karen Keifer-Boyd
CSTAE Executive Board Positions Open
Publish your essay in the CSTAE Newsletter
This is a place to THINK OUT LOUD about your concerns!!
Post on CSTAE Dialogue
or send to: Mike Emme, CSTAE Coordinator
(memme@ualberta.ca)
Site maintained by Karen Keifer-Boyd:
kk-b@psu.edu
Last Updated 3/4/2002
