In fall 2015, the Art Education program will start offering a dual-title doctoral degree in art education and African-American and diaspora studies, joining the existing dual-title degree program in art education and women’s studies. The Penn State Graduate Council approved the new dual degree in January 2015.
“The dual-title degree in art education and African-American and diaspora studies will allow the Art Education program to expand our graduate program options in visual arts and art education and further strengthen our strategic focus and forward-thinking nature,” said B. Stephen Carpenter II, professor-in-charge of the Art Education program. “In short, this new dual degree enables the Art Education program and the School of Visual Arts to link their strategic focus with curriculum and structural change consistent with the mission of the University.”
In his letter in support of the proposal, Graeme Sullivan, director of the Penn State School of Visual Arts, wrote, “This program initiative adds a definitive component to our graduate curriculum that will not only serve our Art Education Ph.D. candidates, but M.F.A. students whose work explores interdisciplinary perspectives and a diverse embrace of cultural production. Adding another dual-title degree to complement our master’s and Ph.D. in Art Education and Women’s Studies represents another step in the process of reconfiguring our Art Education graduate program to meet the changing needs and demographics of the diverse cohorts of new students we are attracting.”
Paul Taylor, head of the Department of African American Studies, wrote in his support letter that the department looks forward to collaborating. “We [will work] closely with you and your faculty to increase the capacity and expand the reach of our interdisciplinary graduate program.”