Teaching Philosophy

Today’s higher education students face profound psychological and systemic barriers, none more paralyzing than alienation and anxiety. In her seminal text, “Teaching in an Age of Militant Apathy,” Beth McMurtrie notes that “many students continue to exhibit debilitating levels of anxiety, hopelessness, and disconnection - what one professor termed ‘militant apathy’ - colleges are struggling to come up with a response beyond short-term solutions. The standard curricula in higher ed - and the way it’s discussed as primarily a path to economic success - can exacerbate those feelings”. When students are conditioned to view higher education strictly through a transactional lens, the academic journey becomes dehumanizing—marred by a constant fear of failure in an unstable world.

I reject this commodified framework. Higher education must transcend transactional exchange. As McMurtrie advocates, the classroom should offer students a vital opportunity to “discuss the big questions bouncing around in their heads, learn a vocabulary to describe what’s happening around them, engage with the messiness of the world, and navigate their place in it”. As an art educator, I position creative practice as a stabilizing force. Through art, students regain their cognitive footing, unpack cultural and ecological complexites, and discover meaningful pathways forward.

My studio pedagogy is hands-on, experimental, and inherently interdisciplinary. I challenge students to engage with diverse media, hybrid techniques, and emerging technologies to cultivate rigorous critical thinking and innovative problem-solving skills. By shifting the pedagogical focus from the final commercial artifact to a dedicated, introspective process, students learn to embrace ambiguity.

This material experimentation intentionally introduces productive frustration. While modern cultures encourage the avoidance of discomfort, I hold that navigating creative tension in small, managed doses develops psychological and artistic resilience. I cultivate a high-trust, supportive environment where students are encouraged to take calculated creative risks, challenge prior boundaries, and voice their frustrations transparently. Through this process, tactile creation serves a dual purpose: it builds cognitive self-esteem and acts as an evidence-based vehicle for emotional regulation, stress reduction, and mental well-being.

Having taught art professionally since 2006 and within higher education since 2014, my practice is anchored in teaching the individual. I design open-ended project foundations that provide structural scaffolding while granting students the agency to tailor the form, content, and context to their unique lived experiences.

This commitment to individualized, accessible learning is informed by my own identity. Diagnosed with learning disabilities as a young child and later with ADHD, my passion for educational equity is a lifelong pursuit. This intersection of identity, advocacy, and scholarship culminated in my graduate thesis, Influence: Art, Activism, and Identity as Seen Through a Neurodivergent Lens. In the classroom, I openly share these experiences to de-stigmatize neurodivergence and model vulnerability. I establish strict but compassionate community expectations: we must value diverse perspectives and communicate both respectfully and courageously. I frequently collaborate with cross-campus partners and administrators to guarantee that my physical and digital classrooms remain inclusive, safe, and universally accessible.

Artistic practice reaches its full potential when it interfaces with the public sphere. To bridge the gap between studio theory and community practice, I embed service learning and experiential learning into my curricula. These real-world applications show students how their creative skills can drive tangible civic and ecological change. For example, my students collaborated with local organizations, such as La Junta Tourism, to design and execute a public mural for Tarantula Fest. This project not only beautified a shared public space but also advanced community awareness regarding local ecosystem conservation. Also, I actively require and facilitate student participation in professional networks. My students exhibit their work, attend artist talks, conduct museum and gallery research, and volunteer for regional events like the Otero Arts Festival. These experiences strip away the insularity of the classroom, connecting students directly to professional artistic ecosystems.

I have witnessed and personally experienced the life-altering power of creative education. This transformative potential is precisely why I have dedicated my career to art education. By immersing themselves in the creative process, students transition from passive observers of an anxious world into active, agentic participants. Art offers a disciplined, therapeutic outlet for external vulnerabilities and a roadmap toward a more equitable, empathetic future. I teach not merely to train future artists, but to equip students with the creative bravery required to engage fully with life again.

[1]  McMurtrie, Beth. "Teaching in an Age of Militant Apathy." The Chronicle of Higher Education, 15 Feb. 2023, https://www.chronicle.com/article/teaching-in-an-age-of-militant-apathy.

[2] Ibid. 

 REFERENCES

McMurtrie, Beth. "Teaching in an Age of Militant Apathy." The Chronicle of Higher Education, 15 Feb. 2023. Accessed 18 Feb. 2023. https://www.chronicle.com/article/teaching-in-an-age-of-militant-apathy.