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Research and Scholarship

Students complete art exercise in studio

Scholarly ability involves research, scholarship, and creative activity. The disciplines of art, art education, and art therapy are distinct disciplines and have different theories, standards for training and practice, research methodologies, outcomes, and creative activities. Housed at a teaching institution and committed to the professional training of art teachers, the department recognizes that scholarly and creative activity may be documented by contribution to the arts, publications, presentations, reputation among colleagues, applied research, etc. research scholarship, and creative activity may take many forms including but not restricted to:

  • Publications (books, articles, reviews, reports, electronic media, etc.).
  • Grants, Fellowships, etc.
  • Presentations and discipline and/or related discipline meetings.
  • Contributions to the subject matter field (presentations, exhibits, productions, research, editorships, model, programs, curating exhibitions, etc.).
  • Invitations by professional or educational organizations to describe the discipline’s theory, practice, and/or research.
  • Consultancies.
  • Works in progress.

It is our understanding that the above statement and the following evaluation guide will serve as a guide for the department in evaluating the significance of items submitted by the faculty to meet the SUNY criteria for research, scholarship, and creative activity in the disciplines of art, art education, and art therapy. It is expected that the department and its committees will evaluate the submitted information in accordance with each discipline’s standards to develop recommendations for promotion, continuing appointment, contract renewals, and discretionary salary increases.

Creative Activities

Following are some of the more significant activities, in rank order.

1.   One-person exhibition in a major museum or major educational institution gallery.

2.   One-person exhibition in a major private gallery or national or international stature.

3.   Acquisition of work by major museums and/or corporate collections.

4.   One-person exhibition in major regional museum.

5.   One-person exhibition in major regional private gallery.

6.   Work in major invitational national exhibitions.

7.   Grants, fellowships, and awards.

8.   Inclusion in national juried exhibitions.

9.   Reviews and articles (national).

10.   Local juried exhibitions.

11.   Reviews and articles (local).

12.   Local group exhibitions.

Research Activities

Following are some of the more significant activities, in rank order.

1.   Book or monograph published by nationally recognized publishing house.

2.   Article published in a major national journal and/or a major presentation at a national conference, i.e., keynote address.

3.   Book or monograph published by a regional publisher (limited distribution publisher).

4.   National consultancies, committees, offices held.

5.   State consultancies, committees, offices held.

6.   Presentation at the national refereed conference.

7.     a. Article in a regional publication or journal.
        b. Presentation at a regional conference.
        c. Regional consultancies.
 
8.     a. Article in local newspapers or periodicals.
        b. Presentation at a local conference.
        c. Local consultancies.

 

Qualitative evaluation of the foregoing should not necessarily be the sole responsibility of the Department or its chair. The value that a book or article published, a presentation made, etc., should be determined by the quality of the venue. This represents a significant form of external, objective critical evaluation.

Some other examples of activities that at times might be considered scholarly pursuits might include: Book and/or article reviews, professional offices held, seats on board of Directors, etc. However, these activities should be evaluated to determined of they are most suited to scholarship or service.

Practica

Award-Winning Graduate Research Theses and Projects

Graduate research takes graduate students into PK-12 public and private schools where they initiate research projects that provide insights into Art Education content and pedagogy. Full-text graduate research documents may be found on Digital Commons and include college-wide award winning theses and research projects. 

Undergraduate Practica Experiences

In the undergraduate program, before completing their student teaching requirements in elementary, middle, and high school settings, art education majors take pedagogy courses that give them the opportunity to work side by side with teachers and students in public and private schools and after-school programs. New York State requires teacher candidates to complete 100 field hours prior to student teaching with a state certified art teacher.

Our students are observing, assisting, documenting, and analyzing, in addition to imagining, building, and delivering lessons, then critically reflecting on their performance and experiences in classrooms with youth of all ages, These practical experiences are invaluable to the success of our graduates.

Evaluation

  • Unpublished book: A commitment from a major, regional, or local publisher in descending order would seem appropriate.
     
  • Published excerpts of said book in national, regional, or local journals or newspapers.
     
  • A commission (visual arts, film, or video production) in progress. The act of commissioning would be deemed as an important criterion. Venue should be considered (i.e., national, regional, local in descending order would define importance). Full acknowledgment would be cited upon completion.
     
  • Funded research projects (national, state, regional, local).
     
  • Unpublished books and articles, unexhibited works of art.

Work that is being done by faculty that has not been published and/or exhibited should be acknowledged. However, it would have more credibility if outside experts could lend their insights into these activities. (i.e., books, and/or articles that publishers and/or journals feel have merit but are not timely. Letters to that effect would be helpful in evaluation).

Works of art that for one reason or another have not been exhibited but have acknowledgment from experts as to quality. (i.e., letter from museum directors, curator, critics, and/or gallery directors).

Unpublished work and/or unexhibited works critically cited should receive peer acknowledgment. This acknowledgment, however, must, by its nature, not supersede those works that have been published and/or exhibited.

We as a department recognize creative possibilities always exist; it is incumbent upon us to always be flexible in our thinking and open to the unexpected.

 

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Art & Design Department

1300 Elmwood Ave  •  Upton Hall 402 •  Buffalo, NY 14222
Phone: (716) 878-6032 •  Fax: (716) 878-4231   artdesign@buffalostate.edu