About this course: 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.
Who is this class for: This course is designed for both classroom teachers and educators in informal settings. Its focus is on primary and secondary education, but in some cases the content can be adapted to the requirements of higher education. No prior knowledge of art history or museum-based teaching practice is required. Please note: If you're a lifelong learner but not a teacher, and you’re interested in learning more about modern and contemporary art without the pedagogical component, we recommend you instead take the course, Modern Art & Ideas.
Taught by: Lisa Mazzola, Assistant Director, School and Teacher Programs
Department of Education
| Commitment | 5 weeks of study x 2 hours/week, plus 2 hours for final project = 12 hours total |
| Language | English, Subtitles: Italian, Russian, German |
| How To Pass | Pass all graded assignments to complete the course. |
| User Ratings |
- Reading: 1.1 Introduction to Art & Ideas: Teaching With Themes
- Video: 1.3 Introduction to Teaching with Themes
- Reading: 1.4 Required Readings & Additional Resources
- Reading: 2.1 Introduction to Places & Spaces
- Video: 2.3 Teaching with Themes: Places & Spaces
- Slideshow: 2.4 Slideshow
- Reading: 2.4 Slideshow [Mobile-Friendly Version]
- Video: 2.5 Vincent van Gogh. The Starry Night. 1889
- Video: 2.6 Piet Mondrian. Broadway Boogie Woogie. 1942–43
- Video: 2.7 Gordon Matta-Clark. Bingo. 1974
- Video: 2.8 Andrew Wyeth. Christina's World. 1948
- Video: 2.9 Salvador Dalí. The Persistence of Memory. 1931
- Video: 2.10 Claude Monet. Water Lilies. 1914–26
- Video: 2.11 Rachel Whiteread. Water Tower. 1998
- Video: 2.12 Edward Hopper. House By the Railroad. 1925
- Video: 2.13 Louis I. Kahn. Sher-e-Bangla Nagar, Capital of Bangladesh, Dhaka, Bangladesh (Study for National Assembly Building). 1962–83
- Reading: 2.14 Required Readings & Additional Resources
- Reading: 3.1 Introduction to Art & Identity
- Video: 3.3 Teaching with Themes: Art & Identity
- Slideshow: 3.4 Slideshow
- Reading: 3.4 Slideshow [Mobile-Friendly Version]
- Video: 3.5 Frida Kahlo. Self-Portait with Cropped Hair. 1940
- Video: 3.6 Andy Warhol. Gold Marilyn Monroe. 1962
- Video: 3.7 Pablo Picasso. Girl Before a Mirror. 1932
- Video: 3.8 Marc Chagall. I and the Village. 1911
- Video: 3.9 Henri Matisse. The Red Studio. 1911
- Video: 3.10 Rineke Dijkstra. Almerisa series. 1994–2008
- Reading: 3.11 Required Readings & Additional Resources
- Reading: 4.1 Introduction to Transforming Everyday Objects
- Video: 4.3 Teaching With Themes: Transforming Everyday Objects
- Slideshow: 4.4 Slideshow
- Reading: 4.4 Slideshow [Mobile-Friendly Version]
- Video: 4.5 Marcel Duchamp. Bicycle Wheel. 1913
- Video: 4.5 Robert Rauschenberg. Bed. 1955
- Video: 4.6 Meret Oppenheim. Object. 1936
- Video: 4.7 Décolletage Plastique Design Team. Bic Cristal® Ballpoint pen. 1950
- Video: 4.8 Louise Nevelson. Sky Cathedral. 1958
- Video: 4.9 Mike Kelley. Untitled. 1990
- Video: 4.10 Jessica Rosenkrantz, Jesse Louis-Rosenberg. Kinematics Dress. 2013
- Video: 4.11 Doris Salcedo. Atrabilious. 1992–93
- Reading: 4.12 Required Readings & Additional Resources
- Reading: 5.1 Introduction to Art & Society
- Video: 5.3 Teaching with Themes: Art & Society
- Slideshow: 5.4 Slideshow
- Reading: 5.4 Slideshow [Mobile-Friendly Version]
- Video: 5.5 Dorothea Lange. Migrant Mother. 1936
- Video: 5.7 Jacob Lawrence. Migration Series. 1940–41
- Video: 5.8 Martha Rosler. House Beautiful (Bringing the War Home). 1967-72
- Video: 5.9 Jasper Johns. Flag. 1954-55
- Video: 5.10 Ernst Ludwig Kirchner. Street Dresden. 1908
- Video: 5.11 Shahzia Sikander. Candied. 2003
- Video: 5.12 Faith Ringgold. American People Series #20: Die. 1967
- Reading: 5.13 Required Reading & Additional Resources
- Reading: Funding & Credits
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It's a very great course. I found it very usefull to introduce art in classroom by theme.
Good
This course gave me inspiration to use art in the classroom, even though I am not an art teacher. Even more, it makes me think about how to connect art with the curriculum I have to teach in Social studies and foreign languages and motives me to cooperate with other colleagues, who teach others subjects at school, to find some common topics to teach by using art.
The videos and literature selected by the instructors are easy to understand and provide with many different ways to work with this theme.
The instructors and curators from MoMa are experienced and passionate teachers!
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