Susie Xiong

ARTE 302 – Delacruz

Reading Response 2
Delacruz, E.M. What Asian American artists teach us about the
complicated nature of 21st Century Americans’ multilayered,
transcultural, and hybridized identities and art practices:
Implications for an intercultural and social justice oriented approach
to teaching art.

In this article, Delacruz explains the reasons and ideas for being sensitive in
planning lessons. According to research, the American family has shifted
from the stereotypical nuclear family of a husband and wife with 2.5
children, and into a diversifying family composed of single parents,
unmarried parents, gay partners, interracial marriages, and adopted
relatives. The rising number of adopted children has led many immigrant
children with difficulties in acclimating to their new environment, and finding
a sense of identity. One thing that was refreshing was the reminder that the
term “Asian-American” encompasses many countries, languages, and
cultures. It might seem obvious, but in my personal experience, teachers,
peers, and strangers often assume all Asian cultures are alike, or only
consider Chinese, Japanese, and Korean as “Asian.” By offering ideas from
various Asian-American artists from different backgrounds, issues such as
immigration, culture, identity, race, and social justice are explored. Such
themes would be important to explore in the classroom, whether the
students are 20th generation citizens, or newly-arrived immigrants and
adoptees. Such life experiences and issues can be used to inform art, and art
can be informed by these life experiences and issues, surely adding even
more color and diversity to the ever-globalizing world we live in.

Taylor, P. G., Carpenter, S. B., Ballengee-Morris, C., Sessions, B.

Community & world connections through service learning.

“Artists create works of art to explain, understand, provoke, examine,

explore, and expand the meaning of what it is to be human (90).” Never has
this been truer with the concept of art and service learning. Harking back to
Dewey and his connection of pedagogy with practice, various types and
examples of service learning are stated for possible implementation in the
classroom. Three types of service learning that was particularly intriguing
were the action research, problem-based, and capstone. Each combines
some element of identifying particular issues, self-reflection, research,
problem solving, community involvement, and of course, action through
service. Use of such types of learning in the art classroom would not only
allow the subject to be interdisciplinary, but also create a sense of action and
engagement for the students. In a culture of increasing technological
communication, yet personal isolation, it is necessary to again bring the
human aspect, the tactile, kinesthetic, empathetic, initiating parts of art to
students. Projects such Empty Bowls are so exciting to read about because of
the sense of community it creates, the relationships it fosters, and the sense
of civic service it instills in students.