Faculty Learning Community on Teaching with Art at the
David Owsley Museum of Art
Spring 2016 – early Fall 2016
Led by
Tania Said, Director of Education, David Owsley Museum of Art
and
Timothy Berg, Assistant Professor of Honors Humanities, The Honors College
Creator of The Infinite Museum at David Owsley Museum of Art
The Office of Educational Excellence is sponsoring a Faculty Learning Community on Teaching
with Art at the David Owsley Museum of Art beginning spring semester 2016 and concluding
fall semester 2016.
What happens when you bring perspectives from your discipline to a work of art? How might
that change your teaching and scholarship in new, unexpected, and delightful ways? How might
a mathematician view an Impressionist painting? What might a geologist say about a stone
head of the Buddha? Teaching with Art will explore what happens when we use art as a vehicle
to generate new ideas and insights we can bring back to our classrooms and beyond.
Teaching with Art is an opportunity for faculty who are interested in expanding their horizons
by incorporating art from the David Owsley Museum of Art into their classes. Our goal is not to
provide typical art history information or give you a set of art education tools, but rather to
create an opportunity to see your disciplinary perspectives in new ways by seeing them through
the works of art at the museum, e.g. Art as Conceptual Framework, Art as Creative Focal Point,
Art as Cultural Context, Art as Primary Text, Art Museum Pedagogy, Museum as Specimen, and
Visual Literacy. Through a series of discussions, exercises, and self-guided investigations,
participants will engage fresh approaches to thinking with and through art. Participants will
keep a journal, investigate artists and works of art that relate to their specific interests, and
develop ideas for teaching through art. This experience is designed for faculty, who, for any
reason, are interested in teaching with and through art in the David Owsley Museum of Art. No
prior art experience is required to participate. We particularly encourage the participation of
those who work in fields where art is traditionally not seen as related to their work. Expect a
fun, loose, and slightly irreverent approach.
A Faculty Learning Community (FLC) is a multidisciplinary group of 8-12 faculty and staff who
come together with the purpose of engaging in active, collaborative and self-guided exploration
of a topic or issue in teaching and learning. Occurring over the course of a semester or two,
participants are able to immerse themselves in the topic. Results include:
 a more in-depth understanding of the issue;
 a modification of teaching, and student learning, based on the faculty’s investigation;
 a dissemination and promotion of the understanding of teaching and learning across the
university and higher education community.
Participation is open to faculty members holding tenure track or contractual appointments in
any academic unit of the university including Burris Laboratory School and the Indiana Academy
teaching staff.
TIMELINE:
Spring 2016 – Participants will:
 Meet face-to-face every three weeks beginning in January to discuss articles, books, and
additional resources related to teaching through art. Our first meeting will take place
the week of January 18, 2016. This meeting will take place on either Monday, January 18
from 3:30-5:00 pm OR Thursday, January 21 from 9:30-11:00 am. The day and time will
be decided based on the group’s preferences as indicated on the application. Further
meetings will occur every three weeks or so, with about 5 meetings total anticipated
this semester.
 Engage collaboratively in thinking exercises using the art at the Owsley Museum.
 Bring a particular problem, issue, or perspective from their discipline as a test case and
develop new perspectives on that issue via the works of art in the museum.
 Develop a teaching or strategy or research connection based on the results of that work.
 (Tentative) Contribute that perspective to a faculty-curated art exhibit to be held either
online or in a gallery at the David Owsley Museum of Art.
 Maintain electronic contact with members.
Fall 2016 – Participants will:
 Attend two (2) get-togethers to reflect on their project results and plan for
dissemination of gained knowledge, once early in the semester to discuss deeper results
of their thinking through art and later in the semester to discuss the results of their
teaching experiments.
RESOURCES: We will provide FLC participants will two resources to assist their study and we’ll
provide other materials as needed during the seminar.
Alain de Botton and John Armstrong, Art as Therapy.
Keri Smith, How to Be An Explorer of the World: Portable Art Life Museum.
YOUR HOSTS:
Tania Said – is the Director of Education at the David Owsley Museum of Art in the College of
Fine Arts. She earned an M.A. in Museum Studies and Visual Culture at The George Washington
University in 1998. Working at DOMA since 2005, she is a staunch advocate for developing the
museum as a resource for all audiences and colleges on campus, and in the community.
Previously Ms. Said worked at various museums and cultural organizations in Washington, D.C.
She was recently a Mayor’s Arts Award nominee and in 2012, the Art Education Association of
Indiana selected her as Museum Educator of the Year.
Timothy Berg is an Assistant Professor of Honors Humanities in the Honors College. He earned a
Ph.D. in History at Purdue in 1999. He’s a former Virginia Ball Center for Creative Inquiry fellow
who led a team that created The Infinite Museum (www.theinfinitemuseum.com), an
innovative web application designed to help visitors to the David Owsley Museum of Art
experience art in unusual ways. He’s also a practicing visual artist whose work can be seen at
www.timothyberg.net.
Faculty Learning Community on Teaching With Art at the
David Owsley Museum of Art
Application
Fall 2015 – Spring 2016
Please complete and return this application—electronic (preferred) or hardcopy—to the Office
of Educational Excellence (kjacobi@bsu.edu , TC415) by 4:00 pm on Wednesday, December 9,
2015.
Name
________________________________________________________________
Department
________________________________________________________________
College
________________________________________________________________
Appointment (check all that apply)
Non-tenure track
Tenure Track
Instructor
Assistant Professor
Tenured
Associate Professor
Full Professor
Phone
________________________________________________________________
Email
________________________________________________________________
Campus Mail ________________________________________________________________
Time Preference and Availability (check all that apply)
Mondays from 3:30-5:00 pm
Thursdays from 9:30-11:00 am
Short Answer Questions (1-2 pages total):


Why do you wish to participate in this FLC?
How do you anticipate participation benefitting yourself and your students?