Teaching & Experimental Learning

As a historian of art, materials, and processes, my teaching combines object- oriented inquiry and process-based learning to focus on the ethics of vision, labor, and materiality. I aim to teach students close looking and critical thinking skills not only to analyze objects, but also to navigate and negotiate complex histories of the environment and representation that persist into the present. How does the vehicle of an image shape our interpretation of it? How do materials guide our eyes, and also interrupt our expectations?

Beyond the visual, I also challenge students to look for signs of process and labor. Imagining how an object might have been made prompts discussions about skill, labor, and knowledge. From whose lands are materials sourced? Whose hands do they pass through on their way to a studio, buyer, or institution? Whose voices are represented and whose are missing? 

Experimental learning is central to my teaching method. I often learn the processes I study in my research, from academic drawing to casting techniques. For similar reasons, I try to bring moments of making into the classroom so students can understand what decisions artists make when creating works of art, what specialized knowledge of tools and materials is required, and how those skills can be translated to other acts of making. Emphasizing process allows students to consider anew histories of skill, knowledge, and power behind every object. 

Photo Credit: J. D. Bingham