Integration Project: Joy Gritton

Project Overview

The primary objective is to integrate technology into the teaching of Art 467/667 - Native American Art, through development of an instructional web site for the course and through the development of two specialized assignments/projects--one that requires students' interaction with those knowledgeable about Native arts via e-mail and the other which requires students to create an on-line interpretive exhibition in response to course content.

Project Details: Integrating Technology into the Teaching of Native American Art (Art 467/667)

The grant project was twofold--first to develop an instructional web page for an upper division/graduate course in Native American Art and second to create course assignments and projects that made best use of technology to enhance the learning process.

The web page was created with a number of goals in mind. Of greatest importance was providing students access to information on Native arts and cultures that was accurate and culturally sensitive. In particular, there was a concerted effort to afford students access to Native American perspectives on their arts, cultures, and histories. This is more readily available on the web than in published sources. Native generated sites or sites that included transcripts of interviews with Native Americans were, thus, given priority. It was also useful to provide other course materials and information via the web page, such as the syllabus, study sheets and assignments/projects, and bibliographies.

After introductory sections that included general reference materials and addressed issues of racism and stereotyping (see "General" and "Identity: Definitions, Stereotypes, and Native Art"), the course web page was organized geographically, with links to the Southwest, the Plains, the Woodlands, the Northwest Coast, and the Arctic North. These were broken down further by chronology and/or tribal divisions. For each section there is a list of terms, a bibliography of published works in the MSU library, and relevant web site suggestions. There are a total of 93 web sites referenced on the course web page.

Assignments and projects were devised to encourage students to synthesize course readings, lectures, videos, web information, and personal experience into a holistic understanding of course content. For example, the first assignment required that students review web sites in the "Identity" section of the course web page (covering such topics as the Mascot issue, the Indian Arts and Crafts Law, etc.) and to reflect upon that information in conjunction with a course reading on cross cultural misrepresentation ("The Nacirema") and course lectures. Students were then asked to view an on-line exhibit of contemporary Native American art and read interviews with Native artists and to compare the art work and interviews with images of Native Americans found in popular culture. For the second assignment students had a choice of further exploration in one of three areas--Navajo sand painting, the Northwest Coast potlatch, or Yu'pik dance and masks. Students were required to review web sites that offered indigenous perspectives on these cultural expressions, and then to write papers that variously reflected upon cross cultural ethics, cultural change, and diverse understandings of spirituality and dance. Students also completed profiles on contemporary Native artists. They relied heavily on web sources for biographic information, artist interviews, and for access to reproductions of the artists' work. Student response to the convenience of accessibility of the course resources, as well as to the value of the course assignments was very positive in the course student evaluations.

The final course assignment was to create a work of art that expressed the student's own relationship to a sense of place in response to the dominant theme in Native cultures of relationship to the natural environment. The students mounted these works in a group exhibit, held in the Strider Gallery, which was hung and advertised by the students themselves. In addition, they hosted an opening with Native American foods. Faculty evaluation of this show was very positive. Students then digitally photographed the show, edited the images, and created their own on-line exhibit linked to the department web page (see http://www.moreheadstate.edu/colleges/humanities/art/cwmain.html).