I can still remember the first moment I understood Minimalism. Not just absorbing facts for a test, but being struck with the conceptual poetics of the objects themselves. My undergraduate professor pointed to a slide of Hans Haacke’s Condensation Cube and said “the condensation adds the element of time, making this artwork not three, but four-dimensional,” and all of the cubes and bricks that seemed barely worthy of a skeptical 20-something-year-old’s eyeroll a week before suddenly snapped into focus. I was hooked.
As an educator and independent curator of public programming, I have a decade of experience innovating modes of learner engagement, with the goal of making that elusive “aha moment” happen for others. Specializing in art history, visual culture and media, critical studies, and writing, I apply creative thinking to traditional and digital learning environments, teaching students to draw connections between cultural artifacts and the specific social values that produce them.
Three core objectives inform my curricula: connecting the visual world to specific historical contexts, encouraging students to think critically about the visual world from multiple theoretical perspectives, and creating assignments that empower students to leverage their unique strengths, interests, and academic goals.
Courses Taught
Critical Studies: Art, Media, & Culture (HUMA310): Columbia College Hollywood and Flashpoint Chicago, Fall 2019
4 credits, upper undergraduate | Syllabus
Visual Culture (ARTH101): Columbia College Hollywood: Spring 2019, Summer 2019, and Fall 2019 | Flashpoint Chicago: Winter 2019, Spring 2019, and Fall 2019
4 credits, undergraduate | Syllabus
Art, Culture, & Society (G139 at CCH; HUM112 at Flashpoint): Columbia College Hollywood: Summer 2018, Fall 2018, Winter 2019, Spring 2019, Summer 2019
Flashpoint Chicago: Summer 2018, Fall 2018, Winter 2019, Spring 2019
4 credits, undergraduate | Syllabus
Tutoring & Teaching Assistantships
Graduate Writing Fellow, 2011 - 2013
School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Department of Liberal Arts
I provided one-on-one mentorship, formal assessments, and oral feedback on artist statements, reflective writing assignments, and academic essays to 30-40 undergraduates per semester. Assisted students in Sophomore Seminars in the Painting and Drawing, Fiber and Material Studies, Film, Video, and New Media, and Fashion departments. Full position description.
Teaching Assistant, History of Photography, 3 credits, undergraduate,TA to Alan Cohen, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Spring 2011
Teaching Assistant, History of Abstract Art, 3 credits, undergraduate, TA to Levi Smith, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Fall 2011
Public Speaking & Guest Teaching
“Movement Matters: Invisibilia,” Panelist | Movement Matters symposia, Outerspace Studios, Chicago, IL, May 21, 2017
“‘Compromised by the Back Room’: Curating art in alternative spaces,” Guest Lecturer | Arts Administration: Curatorial Practice, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, March 27, 2017,
“Weirdness and Joy: Six years of curating art in alternative spaces,” Guest Speaker | The Cliff Dwellers, Chicago, IL, February 22, 2017
“More Than a Feeling: Performative sincerity in the art of the affective turn,” Presenter | Art History Graduate Symposium, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, May 3, 2013
“Parafictional Strategies at the Museum of Jurassic Technology,” Presenter | In Site/On View: Museum as Site of Inquiry Symposium, University of Illinois at Chicago, October 26, 2012
“Protest as Form: A conversation with Occupy Chicago,” Organizer, Moderator | Panel discussion, Sullivan Galleries, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, October 28, 2011
“Organization as Practice: Applied aesthetics as radical art,” Presenter | Columbia College Art History Association Conference, Columbia College, Chicago, IL, April 14, 2011