In this commentary, educator and author Katherine Boydell reflects on her journey to incorporate art genres in the research process as a knowledge translation strategy for producing and disseminating research-informed knowledge. She highlights the need to move beyond descriptions of form and content to grapple with the unique methodological,…

This article is a reflection of the author's experiences teaching a course titled 'Women In Islam' [WIS] in an English Department at a medium, public, Masters granting, Liberal Arts university in the Midwestern United States. This paper argues for the importance of teaching WIS through a multi-genre, interdisciplinary, and global approach. The…

Ryerson University theatre professor Natalie Alvarez is currently helming a large, interdisciplinary team in southern Ontario that is testing the power of Forum Theatre to build better, more responsive scenarios for police officer training in de-escalation and mental crisis response. In this interview, Alvarez sits down with issue editor Kim Solga…

Supporters of K-12 arts education often make the case that when students study music, dance, theatrical performance, and the visual arts, they tend to improve in the academic subjects as well. But, as Lois Hetland explains, that's not the best way to advocate for greater investments in arts instruction. In fact, a careful analysis of a vast amount…

This article features a conversation on the occasion of a May 2018 "Festschrift" in "Issues in Interdisciplinary Studies" to honor the work of William Newell, between Newell and P. Sven Arvidson. William Newell is Emeritus Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies at Miami University, where he taught interdisciplinary courses full…

In the context of research universities, what kind of places and spaces can we create for ourselves that foster a holistic vision of learning and community, a vision that is responsive to the shifting social and ecological landscapes of the Anthropocene? How can these spaces simultaneously address the need to nurture both personal and cultural…

The arts are essential to a balanced education, with specific benefits for the cognitive, affective, and psychomotor development of all students, with special benefits for gifted and talented learners. Yet frequently, when school resources are limited, arts education funding is reduced or eliminated. The National Association for Gifted Children…

Henry A. Giroux is well known for pushing the definitions of education. From his early forays into what has been termed the "New Sociology of Education" in the early 1980s to his more recent discussions of "public pedagogy", Giroux has methodically challenged existing orthodoxies. This essay will focus on the interdisciplinary broadening of…

Artist Ad Reinhardt's 1991 prediction of the "Future of Art" can be interpreted as the condition of art education in 2010. He writes, "The next revolution will see the emancipation of the university academy of art from its market-place fantasies and its emergence as a center of consciousness and conscience." The focus in the fields of art and art…

The article "Big Bang technology: What's next in design education, radical innovation or incremental change?" (Fleischmann, 2013) appeared in the "Journal of Learning Design" Volume 6, Issue 3 in 2013. Two years on, Associate Professor Fleischmann reflects upon her original article within this article. Although it has only been…

Questions regarding the proper role of the arts in education have occupied many thinkers throughout the ages, no less than the likes of Plato and Rousseau. Like them, several have argued that paintings, for example, are mere re-presentations of and certainly not, to borrow a term from Kant, the "thing-in-itself." From a Platonic and Rousseauian…

Over the past three decades, environmental issues have been on the global forefront and continue to affect people's daily lives. Although the need for environmental attention is at an all-time high, outdoor and environmental education (OEE) plays an insufficient role in school systems. As technology continues to contribute to advancements in every…

This essay will discuss the need for the humanities to address visual culture studies as part of its interdisciplinary mission in today's university. Although mostly unnoticed in recent debates in the humanities over historical and theoretical frameworks, the relatively new field of visual culture has emerged as a corrective to a growing…

Most students in America can graduate from high school without ever analyzing a piece of art. Perhaps these students will take an art history or an art appreciation course in college that may incorporate a few references to literature and history. Math or science connections will most likely remain entirely absent. Why do we treat art analysis…

In this article, the author shares how his dissatisfaction with religion textbooks led him to use novels as texts for his religion classes. Among the novels that he used were "To A God Unknown" by John Steinbeck, "The Stranger" by Albert Camus, "A Burnt-Out Case" by Graham Greene, "A Canticle for Leibowitz" by Walter M. Miller, Jr., and "Franny…