Teaching Philosophy
While I have valuable experience in the fields of art, design, and research, it is important that I not be seen as the sole source of information in my classroom. I empower students to use and share their own experiences and knowledge to create a collaborative learning environment. The arts teach us that there is more than one solution to a problem. As an educator, I celebrate multiple perspectives and ways of doing, knowing, and being. I strive to create an inclusive learning environment in which all students have equitable access to learning and feel a sense of belonging in the classroom.
With any form of communication comes a tremendous responsibility on the part of the maker. Visuals are powerful and artists and designers are changemakers in the world. As such, I focus on inclusive design and ethical making practices so that each student comes away with a thorough knowledge of the interconnectedness of design, media, art, and society. With a focus on a non-linear cycle of experimentation, concrete experience, reflection, and conceptualization, my classroom involves rigorous technical and conceptual work. This learning is meant to induce a more critical and inquisitive engagement with images and the audience with which those visuals will interact.
To be given the opportunity to help others by sharing my experiences and knowledge is all at once joyful, challenging, and so rewarding. I see teaching as an extension of my own creative practice as well as being necessary to my own artistic work. Teaching keeps me involved in the practice of making and I learn new things from my students everyday. Being an educator has been one of the great honors of my life.