Art History Pedagogy & Practice

Volume 9 no. 1 Frontmatter

2026-07-03T16:55:28+00:00

Volume 9 no. 1 Frontmatter

Editor's Note

2026-07-03T16:12:05+00:00

This short Editor's Note introduces volume 9 issue 1 of Art History Pedagogy & Practice

Specs Grading and the Art History Survey

2025-07-23T07:02:09+00:00

An increased understanding of the negative impacts of conventional, point-based grading on student learning has resulted in the proliferation of so-called “ungrading” practices in nearly all academic disciplines. One such practice, specifications (or “specs”) grading assigns specific standards to each letter grade that students meet through the completion of assignments that are typically low-stakes (often scored pass/fail) and offers second chances and opportunities for revision. This article discusses the benefits of implementing specs grading in art history survey courses. It draws on the experiences of two instructors teaching general education surveys at two different universities. Analyzing qualitative and quantitative student data, it demonstrates that by decentering grades as students’ principal focus, specs grading reduced their anxiety, increased their intrinsic motivation to learn, and offered them multiple points of entry to the course material. This change in student outlook resulted in written work that was more reflective, speculative, and pleasurable to read, thus ameliorating much of the tedium that plagues the task of grading. Invigorating both students and faculty, specs grading transformed the survey course into a supportive learning community focused on discovery and skill development rather than the accumulation of points. The authors believe this style of grading can contribute to a more inclusive and equitable foundation for the discipline of art history.

Authentic Assessment in Art History

2025-08-11T12:10:33+00:00

In this essay, I make a case for why art history instructors, particularly those who teach in a BFA program, should consider replacing traditional research papers with video podcast projects in their upper-division art history courses. While research papers remain useful for art history majors who are more likely to continue in writing-based fields, for BFA students, video podcasts can serve as a highly effective form of authentic assessment by teaching art historical meta-skills in a creative, applied modality that better integrates with a BFA curriculum. Podcasts, I show, reframe art historical research as a narrative form of public scholarship, which encourages students to focus on the relationship between subjective framing and objective facts that lies at the heart of historical writing. By adding a visual component, video podcasts allow students to connect this relationship to their developing skills in visual communication. As with any digital writing project, however, to make podcast assignments effective, instructors must build a substantial pedagogical framework to support student success. Here, I provide a detailed outline of the podcast assignment I developed for two upper-division art history courses, geared primarily to BFA majors and GE students. This includes in-class project workshops, video production guides, and a staged assignment process in which students receive feedback throughout the development of their project. I conclude with reflections on public accessibility and future areas of improvement.

Performance Praxis as Radical Pedagogy

2025-07-22T10:53:00+00:00

This article revisits a performance art history course I taught in fall 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. While much has moved on from the immediate crisis of COVID, reflecting retrospectively on this course reveals enduring lessons about embodiment, relationality, and pedagogy in art history education. Drawing from phenomenological and critical pedagogies, the course foregrounded “performance praxes” – embodied, reflective exercises designed to engage students in the contested histories and contemporary stakes of performance art. The final project invited critical re-performances, enabling students to engage performance art history through their situated subjectivities and pandemic realities. I conclude by considering what was lost, what was gained, and how performance pedagogy remains vital today, emphasizing care, presence, and the ongoing negotiation of collective embodiment.