Art & Ideas: Teaching with Themes

The Museum of Modern Art

About this Course

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This course is designed to help build critical skills that support theme-based teaching practices and build confidence in  incorporating modern and contemporary art into interdisciplinary lesson plans.  By addressing themes and questions that arise in relation to modern and contemporary art, the course will help you to think creatively about links to your curriculum and the ways that you can tap into students’ knowledge and life experience. 
In this course, you will explore four themes that educators at The Museum of Modern Art use frequently in their teaching: Places & Spaces, Art & Identity, Transforming Everyday Objects, and Art & Society. Through videos, slideshows, and a variety of resources, readings, and activities, you will explore the content and context of works of art in MoMA’s collection.

Learners will…
- Explore works of modern and contemporary art through a variety of themes that relate to  classroom content and student experience.
- Hear directly from artists about their ideas and processes.
- Learn about the ways that a thematic approach supports interdisciplinary teaching and learning. 
- Gain exposure to a range of digital resources available for teaching with themes and incorporating content around works of art into your classroom.

Learner Career Outcomes

50%

started a new career after completing these courses

17%

got a tangible career benefit from this course

Shareable Certificate

Earn a Certificate upon completion

100% online

Start instantly and learn at your own schedule.

Flexible deadlines

Reset deadlines in accordance to your schedule.

Approx. 13 hours to complete

English

Subtitles: French, Portuguese (European), Italian, German, Russian, English, Spanish

Instructors

Instructor rating

4.84/5 (60 Ratings)

Learner Career Outcomes

50%

started a new career after completing these courses

17%

got a tangible career benefit from this course

Shareable Certificate

Earn a Certificate upon completion

100% online

Start instantly and learn at your own schedule.

Flexible deadlines

Reset deadlines in accordance to your schedule.

Approx. 13 hours to complete

English

Subtitles: French, Portuguese (European), Italian, German, Russian, English, Spanish

Offered by

The Museum of Modern Art

The Museum of Modern Art is a place that fuels creativity, ignites minds, and provides inspiration. Join us in exploring the art, ideas, and issues of our time through the Modern and Contemporary Art and Design Specialization or through individual courses: Modern Art & Ideas, Seeing Through Photographs, What Is Contemporary Art?, Fashion as Design, and In the Studio: Postwar Abstract Painting. Learn about teaching with art in our three courses designed for K-12 educators: Art & Inquiry, Art & Activity, and Art & Ideas.

Syllabus - What you will learn from this course

Content Rating99%(6,490 ratings)

Week

Week 1

2 hours to complete

Module 1: Introduction to Art & Ideas: Teaching with Themes

Be introduced to some of the overall benefits of studying modern and contemporary art through accessible and relevant themes. Understand that themes allow us to make connections with artworks, classroom content, and students’ lives. Become acquainted with the ways that a thematic approach supports student-centered, interdisciplinary teaching.

2 hours to complete

2 videos (Total 4 min), 5 readings

2 videos

1.2 Introduction to Art & Ideas1m

1.3 Introduction to Teaching with Themes2m

5 readings

1.1 Introduction to Art & Ideas: Teaching With Themes10m

Tips for Teaching Remotely10m

1.4 Required Readings & Additional Resources1h

Tell Us About You10m

Resources: MoMA podcasts, art vocabulary, Magazine, and YouTube channel10m

Week

Week 2

2 hours to complete

Module 2: Places & Spaces

Discover some of the many ways that artists represent place and take inspiration from their environment. Learn how to engage students with sights and structures that will be familiar to many of them.

2 hours to complete

11 videos (Total 24 min), 3 readings, 1 quiz

11 videos

2.2 Places & Spaces4m

2.3 Teaching with Themes: Places & Spaces2m

2.5 Vincent van Gogh. The Starry Night. 18892m

2.6 Piet Mondrian. Broadway Boogie Woogie. 1942–431m

2.7 Gordon Matta-Clark. Bingo. 19741m

2.8 Andrew Wyeth. Christina's World. 19481m

2.9 Salvador Dalí. The Persistence of Memory. 19311m

2.10 Claude Monet. Water Lilies. 1914–261m

2.11 Rachel Whiteread. Water Tower. 19982m

2.12 Edward Hopper. House By the Railroad. 19251m

2.13 Louis I. Kahn. Sher-e-Bangla Nagar, Capital of Bangladesh, Dhaka, Bangladesh (Study for National Assembly Building). 1962–832m

3 readings

2.1 Introduction to Places & Spaces10m

2.4 Slideshow10m

2.14 Required Readings & Additional Resources1h

1 practice exercise

Quiz30m

Week

Week 3

2 hours to complete

Module 3: Art & Identity

Discover some of the ways artists create works of art to express, explore, and question identity. Gain strategies for using works of art to approach the topic of identity with students.

2 hours to complete

8 videos (Total 20 min), 4 readings, 1 quiz

8 videos

3.2 Art & Identity4m

3.3 Teaching with Themes: Art & Identity3m

3.5 Frida Kahlo. Self-Portait with Cropped Hair. 19402m

3.6 Andy Warhol. Gold Marilyn Monroe. 19621m

3.7 Pablo Picasso. Girl Before a Mirror. 19322m

3.8 Marc Chagall. I and the Village. 19112m

3.9 Henri Matisse. The Red Studio. 19112m

3.10 Rineke Dijkstra. Almerisa series. 1994–20081m

4 readings

3.1 Introduction to Art & Identity10m

3.4 Slideshow10m

3.11 Required Readings & Additional Resources1h

Mid-course survey5m

1 practice exercise

Quiz30m

Week

Week 4

2 hours to complete

Module 4: Transforming Everyday Objects

Discover how artists use everyday objects to challenge assumptions about what constitutes art and how it should be made. Explore a variety of artistic and design choices, and the creative acts of inventing and transforming everyday objects. Gain skills for making interdisciplinary connections and fostering students’ critical thinking abilities.

2 hours to complete

10 videos (Total 22 min), 3 readings, 1 quiz

10 videos

4.2 Transforming Everyday Objects4m

4.3 Teaching With Themes: Transforming Everyday Objects2m

4.5 Marcel Duchamp. Bicycle Wheel. 19132m

4.5 Robert Rauschenberg. Bed. 19551m

4.6 Meret Oppenheim. Object. 19362m

4.7 Décolletage Plastique Design Team. Bic Cristal® Ballpoint pen. 19502m

4.8 Louise Nevelson. Sky Cathedral. 19581m

4.9 Mike Kelley. Untitled. 19902m

4.10 Jessica Rosenkrantz, Jesse Louis-Rosenberg. Kinematics Dress. 20131m

4.11 Doris Salcedo. Atrabilious. 1992–931m

3 readings

4.1 Introduction to Transforming Everyday Objects10m

4.4 Slideshow10m

4.12 Required Readings & Additional Resources1h

1 practice exercise

Quiz30m

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Art & Ideas: Teaching with Themes