As both an academic and practicing curator, I have developed an understanding of research and artistic output as intrinsically intertwined with pedagogy. Art is at its core a communicative endeavor, that develops knowledge through the interaction between viewer, object, and context. Considered in this way, the experiences of the art viewer and the art student are congruous, and the role of curator and teacher starts to function similarly. I see myself as a curator of knowledge-making spaces. By thinking about pedagogy as a curatorial act, I place value on both the critical and physical experiences of the spectator, balancing the different forms of knowledge that are produced by the mind and body. Where discussing or researching visual art stimulates higher-order cognition that translates into traditional academic products, the subjective physical experience of the world is equally valuable as a kind of embodied thinking-through. Rich knowledge-production is never isolated to either the mind or the body, but instead oscillates in the back and forth between subjective experience and critical information.

            Because I value the subjective experience alongside critical discourse, I structure my teaching in an interdisciplinary way. By establishing an environment where students can use their own backgrounds and lived experience as a starting point to enrich their understanding, I support each student to connect ideas in ways that make sense to them. This means listening to their points of view and trying to find entry points into discussion that will bring a variety of viewpoints together into discussion. My own artistic practice has always been interdisciplinary, working between visual arts, cinema, and performance, and I have noticed that many of these disciplines develop the same ideas through different paths. Placing these conversations alongside one another is an important gesture of breaking down silos of knowledge, and tracing histories that may have been overlooked in historical canons.

            I use a variety of strategies to accomplish this, including addressing historical and contemporary examples together, and pulling content from a variety of cultural backgrounds when developing lectures. This enables contextual discussion regarding representation in art and the way that we experience artworks as spectators. In addition to building a rich subject-specific knowledge base, I also create assignments and activities that support basic learning and critical thinking skills, as it is these tools that are most necessary when students attempt to create and articulate their own ideas and opinions. Finally, I support learning through discussion where students can ask questions and think through ideas, where they can work together in small and large groups to build confidence and strong ideas, and learn in a hands-on and embodied way.

            By revealing the power-structures of knowledge—of who gets represented and why— I hope to open entry points for students to understand how they might actively participate in this knowledge-creation. It is crucial to underscore our positions of “teacher” and “student” as implicated within those flows of power, but to do so in a manner that makes it clear that we can use this knowledge to create change and build new ideas. I push students to think critically about their role in the educational system and try to lead students into understanding that knowledge is not as hierarchical or straightforward as they may have previously learned, but that there are many voices who construct it simultaneously. In this, my teaching relies on thorough research practices to demonstrate deep thinking, based on reliable sources and well-rounded information, to support my position as “teacher”, while acknowledging the problematics within that role of power and its relationship to my students.

            Tracing multiple histories simultaneously is not easy, and it often results in creating just as many gaps as it fills. I recognize this and consequently position my role as a teacher not as the main authority, but as someone who guides questions and provides information to structure learning. I hold that my way is not the only way to trace these ideas, but this is how I am able to approach it using the knowledge I have. Because of the way that art can be approached from many forms of expertise, it is crucial that I inspire students to look for their own entry points. This also means that one of my key roles is to help students understand that although sometimes frustration and confusion is an intended part of the artistic experience (much like higher education), it should be met with openness rather than anger that shuts down the ability to interact with the experience. Although I have done more extensive research on the topics of discussion than my students, it is important to establish the dialogue as a conversation—as a two-way flow of information rather than a monologue—in order to create frictions between what assume we know and don't know, and to question the possibility of fully understanding anything. In this unstable understanding lies the love of learning—of continually working to discover more, understand better, and to consider the world with a new perspective.