Defining “Global” Understanding in the HAA Undergraduate Major: Assessment Methods, Breadth Requirements, and Disciplinary Skills
Gretchen Bender, Alison Langmead, and Barbara McCloskey
This annual colloquium session will generate informal yet substantive discussion about the goals and methods of the HAA undergraduate program. Continuing discussion that commenced last academic year, attention will be turned to the following learning outcome that appears in our annual Assessment report:
Historical understanding/Global Context: Students will have a critically informed knowledge of artistic traditions in a global context
Historically, HAA 0010: Introduction to World Art was used to evaluate this skill. However, this method will no longer be employed as it was deemed insufficient to determine how our majors were faring in regard to this outcome. What new methods might we employ to assess “Historical Understanding/Global Context?” More importantly, what does or should the statement above mean? Is this an appropriate learning outcome for our program? Thus what began as a technical assessment problem evolves into far-reaching questions that probe the foundations of the discipline and what we value as teachers of art and architectural history.
Prior to this meeting, participants are invited to read the 2013 Undergraduate HAA Program Assessment Report, and the official Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences “Major Sheet” for the HAA major which advertises our major and delineates our requirements to undergraduate students and advisors.