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Department of Art History & Humanities John Carroll University

Academic Program Review Departmental Self-Study

February 2016

PREFACE John Carroll University is a Jesuit Catholic university (one of twenty-eight in the United States), founded in 1886, and located in University Heights, Ohio. Our mission is to “inspire individuals to excel in learning, leadership, and service in the region and in the world.” Throughout our 129- year history, we have dedicated ourselves to providing Jesuit education not only to enrich the lives of graduates, but also to challenge them to enrich the lives of others in order to create a more just society. These aspirations are expressed in our shared Jesuit mission of forming “men and women for others.” We form critical thinkers through a curriculum founded on Ignatian pedagogy. We support our faculty in their roles as scholar-teachers, believing that engaged researchers who invite students into their specialized areas of discovery offer an extraordinary learning experience. We ensure that every student has a faculty advisor and that classroom learning is extended through meaningful co-curricular programs. Our success is evidenced by extraordinarily strong retention rates, high persistence rates, and enviable four-year graduation rates. Our alumni make a difference, whether they rise to prominence or work with integrity and dedication in their careers and communities. Operating on a semester calendar, John Carroll University is a four-year, not-for-profit university which offers both undergraduate and graduate degrees through the College of Arts and Sciences and the John M. and Mary Jo Boler School of Business. In Fall 2015 the university enrolled 3,137 undergraduates and 536 graduate and post-baccalaureate students. The faculty consisted of 193 full-time members and 224 part-time members. The market value of the university’s endowment as of May 2014 stood at approximately $205 million. (For the JCU Fact Book, click here.) The Department of Art History & Humanities is one of 18 academic departments located within the College of Arts and Sciences. It is currently composed of four full-time art historians. The Department offers majors and minors in both Art History and Humanities. Additionally, the Department offers a small number of studio courses and these are taught by part-time instructors.

I. MISSION AND LEARNING OUTCOMES A. Mission Statement

2 The Department’s mission is to prepare students for graduate and professional school, as well as for careers in the public and private sectors. Mentoring through academic advising, research, and internships prepares our students for future scholarship in addition to social and civic engagement. The scholarly methods learned by students in the program increase perceptive ability, critical and analytical skills, and understanding of various cultural traditions, as well as the facility to express oneself with clarity and precision—strengths essential to any future course of study or career. B. Student Learning Goals/Objectives Art History (AH) Major: Students in this major will be able to:

1. Recognize and understand major artists and monuments of world art, and be able to identify the characteristics and distinguishing features of works of art and architecture in their historical and cultural settings. They will learn to make comparisons across cultures and time periods, leading to an understanding of art and culture within a global context.

2. Demonstrate a knowledge of vocabulary specific to the visual arts and develop a proficiency in visual literacy that will prepare them for graduate study and/or careers in the visual arts, architecture, the media, and related fields.

3. Engage with the curatorial and institutional dimensions of art collections and exhibitions by studying at local cultural institutions, including the Cleveland Museum of Art and the Cleveland Museum of Contemporary Art.

4. Be able to locate, interpret and analyze primary and secondary sources relevant to solving research problems in the visual arts.

5. Recognize, understand, and apply critical, theoretical, and methodological approaches to the history of representation understood within broader socio-cultural and interdisciplinary perspectives.

Humanities (HUM) Major: Students in this major will be able to:

1. Recognize and understand major artists and monuments of world art, and be able to identify the characteristics and distinguishing features of works of art and architecture in their historical and cultural settings. They will learn to make comparisons across cultures and time periods, leading to an understanding of art and culture within a global context.

2. Demonstrate a knowledge of vocabulary specific to the visual arts and develop a proficiency in visual literacy that will prepare them for graduate study and/or careers in the visual arts, architecture, the media, and related fields.

3. Integrate the knowledge of various Humanities disciplines in a unique fashion by creating, with the supervision of a faculty advisor, a self-designed major that integrates coursework from the following areas: Art History, Literature, History, Theology and Religious Studies, and/or Philosophy.

4. Engage with the curatorial and institutional dimensions of art collections and exhibitions by studying at local cultural institutions, including the Cleveland Museum of Art and the Cleveland Museum of Contemporary Art.

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5. Be able to locate, interpret and analyze primary and secondary sources relevant to solving research problems in the visual arts.

6. Recognize, understand, and apply critical, theoretical, and methodological approaches to the history of representation understood within broader socio-cultural and interdisciplinary perspectives.

C. University Learning Goals and Institutional Academic Learning Goals John Carroll’s Institutional Academic Learning Goals (IALGs) articulate the gains in knowledge, skills, attitudes, and values that a student is expected to have achieved as a result of earning a degree at JCU. The learning goals express the essential academic outcomes expected of a JCU student at graduation: IALG 1. Demonstrate an integrative knowledge of human and natural worlds. IALG 2. Apply creative and innovative thinking. IALG 3. Develop habits of critical analysis and aesthetic appreciation. IALG 4. Communicate skillfully in multiple forms of expression. IALG 5. Act competently in a global and diverse world. IALG 6. Understand and promote social justice. IALG 7. Apply a framework for examining ethical dilemmas. IALG 8. Employ leadership and collaborative skills. IALG 9. Understand the religious dimensions of human experience. The Department of Art History and Humanities contributes primarily to IALGs 1-5 and 7 and 9. Students are also encouraged (but not required) to participate in work study, internship, and/or other activities that contribute to components of IALG 8. Examples that illustrate contributions to each outcome are described here. IALG 1. Both majors (AH and HUM) study the human and natural worlds as reflected in the visual arts. Both majors also study how art works derive from the human experience and the ways that human experience is integrated with the natural world. IALG 2. Both majors (AH and HUM) apply creative and innovative thinking by studying the history of human creativity and innovation through visual expression. Creative and innovative thinking is emphasized in the analysis of the visual arts. These works are examined in the form of essays, research projects, and written examinations. IALG 3. Both majors (AH and HUM) emphasize the development of critical analysis in studying the aesthetic dimension of works of visual arts throughout history. This critical analysis often takes the form of essays, research projects, and examinations that explore the aesthetic experience of peoples in different geographical and historical circumstances. IALG 4. Both majors require students to communicate skillfully about the visual arts in multiple forms of expression. Students are required to engage with art works in a variety of ways. Students engage in class discussions, reflect on art historical and other critical readings, learn through close observation of actual works and reproductions of the works, and research and write about them in essays, research papers, and examinations. Students also explore art through the creation of diagrams, videos, and PowerPoint presentations that emphasize visual comparisons.

4 IALG 5. Students in both majors are required to take a variety of courses so as to understand the visual arts within diverse historical and geographical circumstances. They examine the evolution of art works and gain an understanding of how art is influenced by and shapes historical and geographical circumstances. Students’ studies of cultural contexts help them learn to act competently in a global and diverse world. Projects emphasizing comparisons across time and cultures enhance these abilities. IALG 6. Both majors require students to gain an understanding of major artists and monuments of world art. Students learn to identify characteristics and distinguishing features and develop an ability to make comparisons of these features across cultures and different time periods (see IALG1). Students establish basic foundations necessary for understanding issues of social justice in various contexts, including in a global context. This understanding establishes a basis for encouraging students to promote social justice and makes at least a partial contribution to this IALG. IALG 7. Both majors require students to engage with a wide variety of works of world art in different time periods and social circumstances. This promotes an understanding that applies a framework for examining ethical dilemmas. Their coursework leads to a recognition, understanding, and application of a variety of critical, theoretical, and methodological approaches to the history of representation understood within broader social-cultural and interdisciplinary perspectives. IALG 8. Although the employment of leadership and collaborative skills is less explicitly present in the curriculum for both majors, students learn a great deal about historical examples of leadership not only through art works that were commissioned by a variety of historical leaders, but also through examples of artists who took individual leadership roles through their visual arts production. Students learn about artistic collaboration in a variety of different cultures. Through advising, students are encouraged to complete internships and to take leadership roles in student organizations sponsored by the Department. Collaborative skills are also developed in group projects. IALG 9. Both majors require students to learn about art in a variety of different cultural and historical circumstances, encouraging students to reach a deep understanding of the religious dimensions of human experience. Students investigate the ways works of visual art are influenced by religious practices and how the visual arts have contributed throughout history to the religious dimensions of human experience. Students learn about a variety of religions and religious art, including but not limited to Christianity, Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism, and Judaism. John Carroll also has four broader university learning goals (ULGs). The preamble to the University Learning Goals states:

“The vision of Jesuit higher education for the twenty-first century is to graduate individuals with a well-educated solidarity who are contemplatives in action – morally responsible, aware of the fundamental challenges facing the modern world, with a depth of knowledge and strength of character to work creatively and compassionately for a more just and humane society. Within this vision, a John Carroll education is distinguished by respect and care for the whole person (cura personalis), innovative teaching, and integrated learning across the entire student experience. A commitment to excellence and academic rigor animates our way of proceeding – graduating individuals of intellect and character who lead and serve by engaging the world around them and around the globe.”

5 Because each of the nine IALGs appear under the four ULGs, our Department contributes to the education of the whole person. Intellect (engaged learning): The bulk of our work as art history faculty falls under the development of intellect. For a discussion of how art history’s courses work within the core curriculum contributes to this learning goal, see the next section. Character, Service, and Reflection: Because the programs in Art History and Humanities have Student Learning Outcomes that are aligned with the University’s Academic Learning Goals, the majors in Art History and Humanities both contribute to the University Learning Goals in the areas of Character, Service, and Reflection. For example, close study of the visual arts across cultures and historical periods encourages habits of reflection and leads to an understanding, value, and respect for a student’s own talents, unique characteristics, and socio-cultural identities. The study of art in a global context also helps students to act competently in a global and diverse world. The study of the visual arts aids students in developing a framework for examining ethical dilemmas and these studies present a model for how humans in the past and how students in the present can employ leadership and collaborative skills. The study of world art presents both historical and contemporary models for students to understand and promote social justice, work towards creating a more inclusive, welcoming, and just community and serve their communities as engaged citizens and advocates. D. Contribution to Core Curriculum Academic year 2015-2016 marks a major change in the curricular offerings at John Carroll. First-year students entering in Fall 2015 will be fulfilling the requirements of a new core curriculum, referred to most often on campus as the “new” or “integrative core.” Students who entered before Fall 2015 and some new transfer students with a significant number of credits are following what is now typically referred to as the “old” or the “distributive” core. For the next three academic years, the university will need to provide offerings for both groups of students; after that, offerings linked to the old core will be phased out. The outgoing or distributive core. The outgoing core was established in Fall 1995. It was distributive in the sense that it required students to take a wide range of classes across the various departments of the university. Each student, for example, was required to take a course in either history or art history. In conjunction with this requirement, the Department regularly offered multiple sections of Art History 101 (Introduction to Art History), which served as an introduction to world art as well as to the discipline. For many years, this has been the Department’s only introductory survey course and a prerequisite for all upper-division classes in art history. Typically, several hundred students per year enrolled in Art History 101 (see III C for details). In addition, some students might go on to take an upper-division art history course to fulfill additional core requirements. For example, additional elective course work in the humanities was required, as were courses with international components. Most of the Department’s offerings in European and Asian art fulfilled the latter requirements. A few courses also fulfilled requirements for a writing-intensive course and/or a diversity-focused class.

6 The incoming or integrative core. The new Integrative Core is designed to combine curricula across programs of study. The Department of Art History and Humanities has developed and is developing courses for this new curriculum. It is important to note, however, that art history, along with several other departments, has no specifically stated role within this new ccore. Despite this difficulty, there are several ways in which art history might make substantive contributions to this new curriculum: All students are now required to take one course that falls under the rubric “Engaging the Global Community.” It would certainly be possible to create one or more global art history surveys that fulfill this role. They would, however, need to be team taught or coordinated with courses in other departments in the context of a faculty learning community. Upper-division courses in this area are also possible, and Dr. Bo Liu of the Department is currently co-teaching “The Silk Road: Religion, Art, and Politics on the International Trade Routes of East, Central, and South Asia” (AH399A) as part of this new designation. Students are also required to take a pair of linked courses that fall under the rubric of “Examining Human Experience.” There is also great potential here but each art history course in this designation needs to be paired with a related course in another discipline. Dr. Leslie Curtis of the Department is currently teaching “The Beat Generation and the Art of the Sixties” (AH399B) that is part of this new requirement. Next year he will teach “Contemporary Art and Moral Decision Making: Ethics and Aesthetics (AH399C).” Other areas of the new core also have the potential to include classes in art history. Students are required to take a linked pair of courses under the heading “Exploring the Natural World.” One of the pair must be in the sciences but the second course in the link can be from the Humanities. There is also an “Issues in Social Justice” rubric, in which students take a single course; a new course in art history could possibly fit into this section. Finally, the new core requires a capstone experience for each student majoring in Art History or Humanities. Because art history is a relatively small program, it has been decided that both art history and humanities majors will create a capstone portfolio bringing together multiple examples of work from different courses within the major. A kind of summary/reflection statement will also be a likely component of this endeavor. The requirements for these projects are outlined in Appendix J. E. Other University-wide programs Course offerings in art history serve the following programs within the university: - East Asian Studies. Specialty courses offered by Dr. Bo Liu, the Department’s Asianist, can be used

to fulfill requirements for the majors and the minors in this program. The department has recently formed a learning community including Drs. Paul Nietupski (Religious Studies) and Roger Purdy (History). This learning community is related to efforts to offer a world art survey within the new core’s Engaging the Global Community section. (It also benefits courses in their respective areas.)

- Catholic Studies minor. Departmental course offerings that range from the early Christian period through the Baroque area (typically taught by Dr. Linda Koch or Dr. Gerry Guest) regularly qualify for the Catholic Studies designation.

- Modern European studies. Departmental course offerings that focus on Europe from the Enlightenment forward (typically taught by Dr. Leslie Curtis) qualify for this minor.

7 - the Honors Program. Typically, the Department has offered a single Honors section of Art History

101 each semester. This section fulfills a distribution requirement for students in the Honors program but is also open to non-Honors students. This section is limited to 20 students and spends up to 50% of its classroom time at the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Honors program is currently being restructured; the Department’s future role in the program is therefore unclear.

- Humanities M.A. program. The university currently offers a small interdisciplinary Master’s degree in the Humanities (no doctoral degrees are offered at John Carroll). M.A. candidates typically enroll in art history courses at the 400-level and do an increased amount of work beyond the undergraduate level to earn graduate credit. In recent years, there have been a relatively small number of such students taking courses in the Department than was the case in the past. Although reasons for this decreased enrollment are not clear, they are likely related to the fact that in the past at least one faculty member from the Department of Art History and Humanities served as a member on the M.A. program’s advisory board. The director of the Humanities M.A. program worked with the department to coordinate scheduling so as to ensure that students would have the chance to take art history courses that would complement the requirements in the graduate program. We believe that this is still a viable degree program and would benefit from increased support from the administration. Given the similarity in the title of the graduate program in Humanities and our undergraduate major in Humanities, and also the general interest that those graduate students have traditionally demonstrated in art history, it would make sense for there to be more intentional connection between the two programs. It might even make sense to give an art historian an opportunity to serve as director of the program, or perhaps the directorship could rotate among related departments. Would it make sense for the graduate program in Humanities to be administered by the Department of Art History and Humanities?

II. FACULTY

A. Faculty Profiles The Department of Art History & Humanities employs four full-time faculty members, each with a Ph.D. in art history (Drs. Curtis, Guest, Koch, Liu). The Appendix (section C) to this document contains their current CVs. Drs. Curtis and Koch are full professors; Dr. Guest has recently been promoted to full professor (effective Fall 2016); and Dr. Liu has been recently tenured and promoted to associate professor (also effective Fall 2016). Each has a distinct scholarly specialty within the Department: Dr. Liu (Chinese art and Asian art more broadly), Dr. Guest (the European Middle Ages), Dr. Koch (the Italian Renaissance), Dr. Curtis (modern and contemporary art). This range of expertise allows the Department to cover the full span of Western art history and multiple aspects of Asian art. Specialized courses in other areas of world art remain untaught for the most part. Section III below contains an in-depth discussion of the Department’s curriculum. From a contractual standpoint, the teaching load for full-time faculty at the university is 4-4. However, it is standard practice that faculty members actively pursuing scholarly publication are granted research releases reducing the teaching load to 3-3. JCU department chairs usually teach a 2-2 load (although it should be noted that the Department has had outside interim chairs since 2012).

8 The Department employs a relatively small number of part-time (or adjunct) instructors. In Academic Year 2009-2010, the university administration asked departments in the College of Arts and Sciences to reduce expenses in this area in response to budget concerns linked to the global recession. Before that the Department had regularly used adjuncts to staff a small number of sections of Art History 101 and specialized courses in other areas of world art. Since that time, this has been a rare occurrence, happening almost exclusively when a permanent full-time faculty member was on leave. In the past decade, adjuncts have almost never been used to staff upper-division art history courses. In addition to this, the Department regularly employs a small number of artists to teach studio courses, typically one or two per semester (there is neither a major nor a minor in studio art at John Carroll). See section III for more information on the studio curriculum. For departmental staff and student employees, see section V. B. Faculty Development and Evaluation All full-time faculty at the university are evaluated annually (this is also used for salary purposes and for the research release discussed in the previous section). In the Fall semester all faculty members fills out a multi-page form assessing his/her professional activity in the past year as it relates to teaching, scholarship, and service; on campus, this form is generally referred to as the “self-evalution.” Completed self-evaluations are submitted to department chairs who are then required to meet individually with each faculty member and to provide a written assessment of that faculty member’s performance for the previous year. The self-evaluations with the chair’s assessments are then forwarded to the relevant academic dean who meets with the chair and then later determines each faculty member’s salary for the following year. There would appear to be a consensus among faculty that this is a time-consuming and, as relates to salary issues, somewhat subjective process without clear guidelines for determining who receives raises and how they should be apportioned. The amount of money available for faculty raises in recent years has often been insignificant, leading to relatively small raises even for faculty who are deemed to be exceeding expectations. Despite the time involved in the process, an annual evaluation provides each faculty member with documentation that he/she is doing his/her job according to expectations. A committee of the Faculty Council (the Committee on Finance, Faculty Compensation, and Work-Related Policies) has been in existence for several years and is currently examining the self-evaluation process in the hopes of creating an improved model for faculty evaluation. This committee has recently developed a salary proposal with a new set of comparator schools and benchmarks for faculty salaries by discipline and rank (it is unclear whether or not the administration will adopt a version of this proposal). In addition to the annual self-evaluation, tenure track faculty members are evaluated in a separate process that takes place annually during the Spring semester. From Spring 2010 until Spring 2015 Dr. Liu was evaluated through this process, which included observation of her classroom teaching by all tenured members of the Department. Dr. Liu has recently earned tenure; thus, with all full-time faculty in the Department having tenure, this task will no longer be performed within the Department (at least for the foreseeable future).

9 All full-time members of the Department are actively involved in research and publication. Since 2009 (the year of Dr. Liu’s arrival), the four full-time faculty members in the Department have produced a total of six journal articles, four book chapters, four encyclopedia articles, and nine book reviews. All faculty members continue to pursue research and publication of various types, with most having unpublished work currently in press. See the CVs in the Appendix (section C) for specifics. All Departmental faculty regularly give papers and organize sessions at scholarly conferences. This activity is funded by the university to a certain extent. Faculty members submit a requests during the summer months outlining their likely conference participation for the coming academic year. A maximum of $1800 per faculty member may be awarded by the Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences. This new policy has more restrictions than in the past, when departments, with the permission of the dean, were sometimes allowed to make use of funds from other lines to supplement annual travel allocations. Financial support for scholarly activity is available in several other forms at the university. University faculty are eligible to apply for summer research fellowships to support research projects, most often with specific outcomes, typically publication. These grants consist of either $5,000 or $3,000 in the form of a supplement to salary. The awards are based on the merits of the proposed project, not costs. All four members of the Department have been awarded these grants at various times. One concern among faculty is that the amount of these funds has not increased in more than a decade. There is also a sabbatical program (Grauel Faculty Fellowships) in place at the university. This typically consists of single semester of release time with full salary or a full year’s release time at half salary. Faculty are eligible to take these leaves (at most) once every five years. All four faculty members in the Department have availed themselves of this opportunity, typically leading to new research initiatives and publications. In addition to this, there is a general fund for research expenses to which faculty members may apply. The above-mentioned funding opportunities are awarded through the auspices of the Provost’s office and the university research committee, which consists of both elected and appointed members. An additional fund, the Kahl endowment, is administered solely by the Provost and exists to help internationalize the curriculum. Several members of the Department have availed themselves of this fund in order to create new or to revamp existing course offerings. This fund can, for example, be used for travel expenses, something useful for teaching development. Various other university resources are available to support both research and teaching. For example, a grant from the McGregor Foundation allowed two members of the Department (Drs. Koch, Curtis) to participate in a learning community aimed at globalizing the curriculum. Grants for developing new courses for the integrative core curriculum have also been awarded to Drs. Curtis and Liu. Outside the university, Dr. Guest participated in an NEH summer institute on the Islamic world. C. Professional Service and Community Engagement

10 Faculty service takes multiple forms at the university and can potentially take up significant amounts of time. Typically, one member of the Department serves as department chair (this has not been true in the period 2012-2016). Members of the Department are called upon to chair the tenure and promotion committees. With increased accreditation pressures being placed on the university from the outside in the past two years, the role of departmental assessment coordinator (currently Dr. Curtis) is now an important one within the Department. Outside of the Department, art history faculty contribute to the larger culture of service at the university. The three senior members of the Department have all served on the Faculty Council. This has lead to additional obligations for some—e.g., work as Faculty Council secretary (Dr. Guest), committee chair (Dr. Koch), faculty liaison when the Board of Directors is on campus (Drs. Curtis, Guest and Koch). Members of the Department regularly serve on other university committees and groups (e.g., the sexual harassment board). Such work is rarely compensated in any sort of direct way, but it is presumably taken into account during the annual evaluation process for salary purposes and in considerations of tenure and promotion. Members of the Department are also active in scholarly societies such as the International Center of Medieval Art (Dr. Guest has served as a board officer) and in peer reviewing for scholarly journals. The latter have included Ashgate Publishing, Frontiers of History in China, Food and History, Gesta, Studies in Iconography, Different Visions, and Preternature.

III. CURRICULUM A. Curriculum

Note: Please see the Appendix for the following: Appendix, section D. List of courses offered in each of the past three years Appendix, section E. Syllabi for required courses in major Appendix, section F. Syllabi for courses offered as part of the Core Curriculum Appendix, section G. Curriculum maps

Curricular offerings within the Department follow a fairly regular pattern. Each of the four art historians in the Department typically teaches three courses per semester; occasional reductions for service may bring down a member’s load to two courses in a given semester. Under the outgoing core, there was large student demand for Art History 101 (Introduction to Art History). Because of this, each faculty member typically offered two sections of the course each semester; the teaching load was then rounded out by having each faculty member teach an upper-division art history course (200-, 300-, or 400-level). If a faculty member taught only two courses in a given semester, he/she typically offered a section of AH 101 and an upper-division art history course. There is limited demand for summer school classes at JCU. Typically, a section of Art History 101 and perhaps an upper-division course will be offered. Summer school offerings in the Department have been canceled on more than one occasion in recent years due to low enrollments. This is arguably a

11 broader university problem; it is not clear what if anything is being done to promote the summer sessions. With the advent of the new integrative core curriculum, there is no longer a pre-ordained place for the art history survey as part of a student’s general course work. It is anticipated that the Department’s survey course will need to be reinvented either as an “Engaging the Global Community” [EGC] course or in some other form. See I D above and VII B below for more discussion. See Appendix F.4.a for a proposed AH201 course for this EGC section of the core. Advanced courses in art history are mostly offered as 300-level courses, but there are also offerings at the 200 and 400 levels. Most of these courses focus on specific periods and fall in individual faculty specializations. These classes are distinguished by heavier reading loads, more sophisticated art historical analysis, and more extensive assignments. One or two studio courses are offered each semester. A painting class and a drawing class are regularly offered in a converted lab space within the science building. There is also an Introduction to 2-D Design course (AH210), but at present no clear structure for having students fulfill prerequisites so as to be better prepared for courses such as painting and drawing or graphic design. Graphic design has occasionally been offered; there is a Mac lab on campus that can be used for this class. These courses could be put together (and were originally designed with the idea that JCU might wish to develop a minor or small major in studio art, a key element in an earlier but now ignored Strategic Plan). All studio classes are taught by part-time instructors. These classes have not been part of the outgoing distributive core curriculum; students have taken them strictly for elective credit. It might be possible to integrate one or more of our studio offerings into the incoming integrative core, which has a one credit hour requirement in creative arts. The department has just instituted a single studio course requirement for art history majors; we will thus need to continue to offer these classes and perhaps develop other offerings. See VII B below for more discussion. At present, AH201/101 serves as a pre-requisite for these studio courses. This is in part because the department offers program degrees (and minors) in Art History and Humanities, and it seems appropriate to focus on those programs that are staffed by full-time faculty. If the department were to add a full-time faculty member in the studio area and if a minor and/or small major in studio were added, this pre-requisite requirement should be revisited (as is the case every couple of years when revisions are made to the undergraduate bulletin). The Art History major. The Department aims to offer its majors broad geographic and chronological exposure, as well as sufficient depth to be able to develop skills that would enable students to pursue graduate study and/or work in the field after graduation. Currently, majors are required to take 11 three-credit classes and one studio art course. In previous years, majors were expected to reach the intermediate (or second year) level of a foreign language, but the Department chose in 2015 to drop this requirement. The reason for this change was partly due to the de-emphasis on language requirements in the new core and also to remove any impediment for students considering the art history and/or humanities majors. Our experience has been that students who intend to go on to graduate study tend to be more interested in pursuing a background in languages, and we have decided that we can encourage these students through

12 advising. Among the 11 required art history classes, students typically include AH 101 (or a transfer survey) and ten upper-division courses. Among the latter, there are required courses (with some flexibility) as follows: - one course in Asian art - Northern Renaissance art or Baroque art - Greek & Roman art (a single course) - Nineteenth-century art - Medieval Art - Modern art or Contemporary art - Italian Renaissance art These seven courses are intended to give majors a solid and broad exposure to a wide range of periods and cultures, shaped by the expertise of the permanent faculty. Majors were previously expected to take a 400-level art history course but this has been discontinued. This has been removed partly because of the difficulty (perhaps exacerbated by the challenges of the new core) of getting students to follow the course sequence and complete this 400-level course, partly because students have been receiving waivers for this course and alternatives that seem to defeat its purpose, and also to remove any impediment towards students completing the major programs. Although relatively rare in recent years, departmental majors are free to pursue specialized interests through independent study with a faculty member. Such projects can be calibrated to earn 1, 2, or 3 credits. To meet the curricular requirements of the art history major and to ensure a diversity of course offerings, faculty members offer upper-division courses on a two-year rotation, meaning that any required course not offered in a given academic year will be offered the following year. Art History minor. The minor in art history offers both simplicity and flexibility in terms of its requirements. Students must take six three-credit courses of their choice; the introductory survey is typically one of the six. The Humanities major and Humanities minor. The university has a long-standing area major and minor in the Humanities. In each, students create their own area of concentration (e.g., Renaissance studies) and then pursue that interest across various departments. Not all courses taken need to focus on the chosen area but it should be a key aspect in their selection of courses. Students majoring in Humanities are required to take four three-credit courses in art history; minors are required to take two art history courses. In the outgoing distributive core, these courses had to be in excess of courses used to satisfy the core. This may need to be revisited when revisions are made for the new Undergraduate Bulletin. For departmental participation in other interdisciplinary programs, see I E above. For graduate students, see I E above. B. Course Profile For the balance of full-time and part-time faculty within the Department, see II A above. For course offerings, see the previous section (also Appendix B). For issues relating to class size, see the next section. C. Enrollment Trends

13 As noted above, the outgoing distributive core generated a fairly large and stable pool of students enrolling in Art History 101 (Introduction to Art History). Anywhere from 6 to 8 sections have been offered per semester in recent years. Total enrollments have been as follows:

Art History 101 enrollments

Semester Fall

2010 Spring 2011

Fall 2011

Spring 2012

Fall 2012

Spring 2013

Fall 2013

Spring 2014

Fall 2014

Spring 2015

Fall 2015

Spring 2016

Total # enrolled

193 182 188 171 190 156 155 179 181 171 152 132

It is expected that these numbers will decline in the future as the incoming distributive core is implemented unless we are able to incorporate a version of the course into the new core. Numbers for academic year 2015-16 may have been affected by teaching loads (one faculty member was on leave in the Fall and in the Spring only six AH 101 sections were offered). Enrollment in upper-division art history courses has been more volatile; it is not immediately clear why. It is also unclear why spring enrollments are consistently higher than fall enrollments.

Enrollment in upper-division art history courses (typically 4 per semester, occasionally 3 or 2)

Semester Fall

2010 Spring 2011

Fall 2011

Spring 2012

Fall 2012

Spring 2013

Fall 2013

Spring 2014

Fall 2014

Spring 2015

Fall 2015

Spring 2016

Total # enrolled

36 55 50 55 35 64 20 29 19 36 12 29

As these numbers demonstrate, there was a significant decrease in enrollments beginning Fall 2013. In both Fall 2015 and Spring 2016, a single upper-division art history class had to be canceled due to under enrollment (something not seen before in the department). Whether this problem will persist is uncertain, and in fact, the university does not have a set policy on seat counts and course cancellations. Art History was disadvantaged in this period by having outside chairs who were not regularly available to students seeking information about the department. This means that no one (not even the external chairs) is receiving a course load reduction and a stipend. These things would certainly help someone within the department to be more available to students and to provide administrative attention to the significant issue of enrollment. At present, none of the faculty in the department have access to the software that tracks students who are majors and minors; in one case it took a student several years to be officially declared as an art history major, despite repeated requests by the student and from the department that this issue be addressed. The failure of the academic administration to follow the faculty contract (via the Faculty Handbook – see Appendix A) in giving the departmental faculty input in the selection of a department chair seems to be symptomatic of the issues with shared governance that have been cited by the Higher Learning Commission in its recent notice given to the university. An improvement in this area would enable departmental faculty to address better some of the enrollment issues that seem to have been exacerbated since 2012. It is also possible that the so-called “Crisis in the Humanities” is a factor, but we have no specific data to support this. For example, this does not appear to be an issue at some of our comparator schools (cf.

14 Kenyon and Santa Clara). This year, we do have one new major who transferred to JCU from one of our competitors (Baldwin Wallace) which recently dropped its art history major (perhaps due to having only one full-time art historian). Another new major transferred to JCU from Marietta because they do not have a program in Art History. The majority of incoming students declare an intention to major in either the STEM fields or in business. This could suggest a declining student interest in humanities majors, but it could also indicate a lack of visibility of our programs and a lack of emphasis in recruiting efforts. This is a larger issue within the university that needs to be addressed. See also section V below for a discussion of the Department’s move to the science building. D. Contribution to new Core Curriculum – see I D above.

IV. STUDENT LEARNING A. Pedagogy In upper-division art history courses, departmental faculty pursue a variety of pedagogies to achieve both departmental and university learning goals. A variety of in-class strategies are practiced to balance traditional content delivery with newer, innovative methodologies. Active learning strategies are employed in a variety of ways (small group activities, class presentations, discussions triangulated among art works, the instructor, and the students, and analysis in-class writing exercises, etc.). Experiential learning is also used (e.g., field trips and re-enacting aspects of art works). An equally wide range of formal assignments is used to measure individual student learning. These naturally include traditional in-class exams, take-home exams, and research papers – perhaps the most traditional instruments of assessment in the discipline. The assigning of research papers allows faculty to stress research methodologies – principally, the locating of primary and secondary sources as well strategies for writing about objects. The Cleveland Museum of Art is a key resource here. Students regularly research objects in the collection and are encouraged to visit the museum’s Ingalls Library, which is one of the large museum libraries in the country. Dr. Guest has recently experimented with video production by having students create YouTube-style clips based on individualized research projects. Other types of assignment are geared toward critical analysis and the consideration of methodologies. Some faculty assign journal articles for written analysis and class discussion. In these assignments, students might be called upon to act as discussion leaders in the classroom, thus refining skills in oral presentation. Class visits to the art museum also may involve presentations, either based on previous research projects or rooted in exercises done on the spot. All of these various means of assessing student learning are tied to departmental and university learning goals. For more on this topic, see section VI below. Pedagogical work with students also exists outside of the traditional classroom setting. Independent studies can be pursued by majors with any of the full-time faculty. Projects that are worked out with individual faculty-mentors can earn students 1, 2, or 3 credits. This is especially encouraged for students interested in pursuing graduate work in the field. Faculty, however, are not explicitly

15 compensated for such work but it is (in theory) taken into consideration during the annual evaluation process for salary purposes. Our new capstone project may also offer new opportunities in this area. Among other high-impact pedagogies, teaching in local museums is perhaps most important. Not surprisingly, the Cleveland Museum of Art plays the largest role here. Virtually every semester, two sections of Art History 101 feature in-class bus trips to the museum with nearly 50% of the classroom sessions being taught there. Upper-division courses in art history also make regular trips to the museum, given the encyclopedic range of the permanent collection. Other local collections such as the Museum of Contemporary Art and the Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage have also been sites for class visits. Beyond this, the Department also regularly organizes extracurricular field trips to special exhibitions in the hopes of stimulating interest in the visual arts among the student body. These trips typically involve free transportation and tickets paid for through the department budget. Not surprisingly, art history majors often take advantage of study abroad programs. These are coordinated by the university’s Center for Global Education. There is arguably something of a disconnect here. Students are able to choose programs and courses through this office; faculty are thus not necessarily involved in the advising process here (although some changes have been seen this semester). Moreover, the department should have an opportunity for more oversight of some syllabi and instruction at study abroad sites (for example, syllabus for AH431 and its readings, which is offered in the JCU Vatican program – see Appendix J). This year, the department lost one art history major who complained about inappropriate behavior experienced during a JCU study abroad trip. It is not completely clear what has been done to address this situation, but the student reported being dissatisfied with the lack of action and withdrew. The loss of a student who was within about one semester of graduating as an art history major is painful to say the least. B. Advising At John Carroll, academic advising is seen as the responsibility of the faculty. Students typically are assigned an initial advisor for their freshman and sophomore years. During the second semester of their sophomore year, students typically declare their major and then receive in a new advisor in their field of study. Beginning in 2013, a new form of freshman-sophomore advising was initiated. Known as cohort advising, it groups freshmen into small groups or cohorts. Each cohort has a faculty advisor who works with the group together in several sessions during the first semester to acclimate the students to academic life at JCU. All members of the Department have participated in this new program. Students declaring a major in art history or humanities are assigned an academic advisor within the Department. Advising loads are currently manageable and allow a high degree of personalized interaction between student and advisor. Occasionally, faculty members within the Department take on additional advising responsibilities for graduate students in the Humanities M.A. program. This typically occurs at the end-stage of the program when students are required to write either a final research essay or thesis. If that topic

16 deals with the history of art, close study with a faculty member in the Department typically results. This work is not compensated directly but is hopefully considered during annual salary reviews. C. Student Scholarship, Internships, Experiential Learning, Creative Work, Volunteerism Opportunities for student scholarship are encouraged through advising and by individual professors, but also depend on individual student initiative. Each year, for example, the university presents a week-long Celebration of Scholarship with multiple opportunities for students to present the results of research conducted inside and outside the classroom. In recent years, relatively few departmental majors have participated, but the forum is there for those who are motivated and interested. In the area of internships, the Cleveland area presents a rich array of possibilities for students. Not surprisingly, the Cleveland Museum of Art has proven popular among departmental majors, with students being able to work in various departments gaining experience in fields such as provenance research, marketing, and new media. Undergraduates have also interned at institutions such as the Museum of Contemporary Art and the Cleveland Clinic, which has its own art collection. Students typically secure internships on their own or through the university’s Career Center. Faculty often, but do not always, play an active role in this area, something that might be emphasized more in the future. Other departments, for example, designate a course for internships that receive credit, something that has not been implemented in Art History. If this were to be done, it is likely that the department chair would need to oversee the work done in student internships and the awarding of credit for them. This would also work better if the chair were an art historian. D. Professional Development, Post-Graduation, and Alumni Outcomes It is somewhat difficult to present specific information or to generalize about the professional activities of art history and humanities majors after graduation. In the past, exit interviews were conducted with graduates, but that data is not available. In recent years, these exit interviews do not seem to have been conducted and last year there were no graduates. Our recent assessment work has emphasized the need for conducting these interviews. This practice is done in other departments, but the university administration has not made efforts to standardize the practice across programs, something that might be useful in future. Continuing contact with alumni indicates that departmental majors have gone on to a variety of careers and advanced degree programs, including work not only in art history but also in medicine, optometry, law, and library science. It would also aid the department’s assessment efforts to have less restricted access to alumni information. The university’s Center for Career Services does conduct a “first destination” survey to find out about the professional/educational activities of John Carroll students immediately following their graduation. Results are currently available online for 2008 through 2013 (see http://sites.jcu.edu/careercenter/pages/success-stories/first-destinations/). As it is a voluntary survey, the results are naturally incomplete. For the six years in question, thirteen art history majors responded to the survey. A majority (8 of 13) reported that they were pursuing graduate study; the schools identified by these students included the University of Chicago, Case Western Reserve University, New York University, and Penn State. Four students reported that they had secured jobs in a variety fields (video production, education, finance, and medical support).

17 Two students graduating with a Humanities major (out of 6 respondents) reported taking jobs in sales and teaching. Again, the majority of respondents (4 of 6) reported that they were pursuing advanced degrees or additional study in education, counseling, medicine, and the culinary arts.

V. UNIVERSITY SUPPORT AND RESOURCES Library. Grasselli Library offers hard copies of books and some art journals. Some online materials are also available through the Library catalogue. OhioLink and our Interlibrary Loan system offer good (but not complete) access to most other journals, books, and other printed material. Most faculty and students have success in finding current research material via JSTOR, Art Full Text (1984-present) and Art Index Retrospective (1929-1984). The Arts and Humanities Citation Index can also be helpful. Digital resources are also available through OhioLink, including the Digital Resource Commons. Recently, the university has purchased access to ArtStor which has expanded access to digitalized images of art works. New titles of print books are advertised with the GOBI system via email, and faculty can actively request purchases of new materials for the collection. All of these materials are used for research and teaching. The faculty and some students also make use of the resources of the Ingalls Research Library at the Cleveland Museum of Art and those of the Cleveland Public Library. Research Partners. Departmental faculty maintain active research collaborations with numerous local, national, and international institutions (Appendix C). Notable research partners include: Cleveland Museum of Art and the Cleveland Museum of Contemporary Art. The Department has had an institutional membership in the College Art Assocation. Faculty have also served on graduate review committees for students in programs at Case Western Reserve University. The Department also offers courses through John Carroll’s study abroad program at the Pontifical University in Vatican City. The university has other partnerships with study abroad programs administered through the Center for Global Education. Technology. Majors in Art History and Humanities have been required to use computers to collect, analyze, and interpret data and in the preparation of essays, research papers, and exams for upper division courses. Students are required to make use of research databases and other web-based sources to conduct their research. In some cases, students have made use of video technology (via cell phone apps) to prepare videos that study works of art in local museum collections. Students have also become familiar with the means to secure digital images for use with PowerPoint presentations in upper level courses. Through work-study jobs and internships, a number of students have been involved with collections software and data entry related to works of art and digital image sources. Facilities. The Department of Art History and Humanities is located in the Dolan Center for Science & Technology (completed in 2003). Unlike other departments located in the building, whose faculty were involved in designing the laboratories and classrooms, this Department had no role in the design of the building and almost no input in being relocated to this building (which took place in 2009). The facilities were not designed with our Department or its needs in mind. Whereas the Department previously had two dedicated classroom spaces that were equipped for projection of images – a necessary component in all art history Departments – we now use a shared space (Dolan W139) that was designed for teaching science classes. It has a higher quality projector, but it has

18 frequently malfunctioned, leaving faculty to try to teach students about visual characteristics of arts works with images that are often distorted on the screen (or become so suddenly in the middle of classes). According to recent information that we have received (indirectly) from the Information Technology Department, the equipment in Dolan W139 should be replaced. The retroactively fitted fluorescent lights that were supposed to have dimming capabilities have never functioned properly and are also subject to erratic performance, sometimes suddenly coming to full light in the middle of a film presentation or an art history lecture. The chalk boards do not have lights to help illuminate information the semi-dark room during class. Furthermore, the room does not have tiered seating and the seating arrangement frequently causes students’ silhouettes to block parts of the projected image, nor has the room been equipped for surround sound for the projection of film and video works (which are discussed in some of the department’s courses) as had been the case in the previous classroom space. This is especially unfortunate in that the equipment had been purchased via the departmental budget. The Department also makes use of another larger classroom (AD226). While it is more desirable in that it has tiered seating, its projector (purchased 2008) has also been unreliable and not up to the best quality; the mechanized screen has also malfunctioned in recent years. Moreover, the classroom is much larger than needed for some of the smaller upper-level courses. Because the classroom is used by many different groups it is constantly subject to having its blinds and windows opened – thus causing inconvenience to the professors using the course as an art history classroom (or for other purposes such as for film classes). The room is also used by many student groups and there are often unnecessary pieces of furniture that are dragged into the room, that block the screen and wheelchair access and other parts of the room (including blocking fire exits). The sub-woofer in the room often does not work properly and the surround sound system leaves a lot to be desired. This is especially obvious when film courses or courses using film and video are being taught. The classroom is also not equipped with proper chalkboards with lights located in permanent positions that make information on them clearly legible to students in the classroom. The moveable chalkboard that is there is highly dysfunctional and does not move easily. Should a problem arise with either of our classrooms, no other spaces at the university are very well suited for effective art history pedagogy. Other faculty in the Dolan Science Center have larger offices than those of the Art History and Humanities faculty and members of other departments have two offices – one for regular office uses and one for lab and research work. Most departments have adequate storage space, but Art History has storage spread out on different floors and in distant parts of the large science building. The science departments also have central office spaces that give a home to the Department and common spaces for access to mailboxes, secretary space, photocopy rooms, etc. The Art History and Humanities Department has only a cramped office that barely supports the space needs of the departmental secretary and visual resources coordinator. Most lamentably, this space does not afford a welcoming space to visitors to the Department. The space that the Art History department should have as its central office headquarters has been converted into a food service kitchen that is frequently used by non-JCU employees. The space is often filled with loud noises. Spill over from the space includes food carts, garbage, and other equipment such as a large refrigerator blocking our hallway leading between departmental faculty offices and the main office and classroom space. This does not create a very pleasant work or study environment and is certainly not very inviting for prospective students. Also, unlike other departments in Dolan, the Art History and Humanities Department does not have a conference room that can be used as a place for meetings, smaller seminar or independent study courses, etc. A converted room is used for studio space but it is

19 located on the other side of the building within a Physics Department. At one point the university decorated what was described as a university exhibition space, but it was never assigned to the Department and thus could never be used to develop an ongoing exhibition program. It is now being used as Physics classroom. The worst aspect of the Department’s location is that it is far from related departments and programs in the Humanities, so the opportunity to easily interact with those faculty and students is not possible. Moreover, the space in the science building suffers from a lack of traffic and is isolated from much of the academic community. These factors have contributed to a decline in enrollment in our programs. Financial Support. Through the university budget, the Department provides modest yearly funding for expendable items such as supplies and field trips. There is also a small budget for faculty travel to conferences. Although the Department once had a full time secretary/visual resource coordinator for more than fifteen years, in recent years we have had only a temporary staff member providing support to the Department and its students. Budget and Revenue. The Department spends approximately $14,451 in operating costs annually to cover research and teaching labs, travel, work study, and computer purchases. In 2014-2015, the total cost of the Department was $402,388, which includes operating costs plus full and part time salaries and fringe benefits (see chart in Appendix K). If revenue is limited to only credit hours, the true cost to the university can be determined. Discounted tuition during this same time period at JCU resulted in each credit generating approximately $430 (according data including in the Biology Department’s APR document), and approximately 1221 total credits were taken by 407 students in the department during 2014-2015. Therefore, revenue generated by the Art History and Humanities Department was approximately slightly less than $122, 642 during that time period. In fact, the Department has produced approximately $419,629 in net revenue over 3 years beginning with 2012-2013. This suggests that there are resources available that would allow the Department to regain the support of a full time secretary and visual resources staff member. It might even suggest that the university could explore adding at least one full time faculty member in studio art. Equipment for Teaching and Research (Appendix I). Although we have somewhat adequate equipment to conduct our classes, our primary concerns center on replacement of equipment when it fails or becomes dated. As mentioned above, some of the projection equipment needs to be replaced. Keeping in mind that this equipment is used by many departments, not just Art History and Humanities, the cost should be distributed among these different departments.

Most of the equipment needed for teaching in the Department involves the use of high resolution A/V projectors in the two classrooms that we currently share. We have historically used scanners and digital cameras in the production of digital images for our courses, but in recent years other online tools (including the availability of high quality public domain images) such as ARTSTOR have made images more readily available. We also depend on university computers for accessing, producing, managing, and displaying these images. A significant amount of the costs for equipment such as the projectors is shared with other departments and is supplied via Information Technology Services. One other teaching cost involves transportation (via the University Bus) for the two courses that meet at the Cleveland Museum of Art once a week. Studio arts is an area with additional needs (development of new courses, facilities for them, and at least a small exhibition space).

20

Most of the research conducted by Art History faculty is carried out using either the university-furnished computers (that are also used for teaching) or with individual faculty members’ own equipment. These computers must be replaced from time to time, but these replacements have been much less frequent in recent years.

VI. STUDENT LEARNING ASSESSMENT During Fall 2014 the Department of Art History and Humanities approved learning outcomes for both the Art History and Humanities majors. Departmental faculty also worked to map these Learning Goals to the Institutional Academic Learning Goals (IALGs). During Spring 2015, the Department developed a new capstone project that would be required for all majors in Art History or Humanities. With this framework in place, instructors assessed student learning in the Spring and Fall of 2015. Value rubrics for the new capstone projects were developed. Towards the end of Spring 2015, juniors who would be graduating in Spring 2016 were asked to participate in a pilot of the capstone project on a voluntary basis. Thus, we plan to have some additional data to consider for the annual assessment report that will be completed towards end of Spring 2016. New assessment plans were developed in the Fall of 2014 (Appendix I). A preliminary assessment report was developed during Spring 2015 and a full assessment report (Appendix H) was presented at the end of Spring 2015.

For the annual report for Academic Year 2014-2015, we focused on measuring Departmental Student Learning goals numbers 2 (Demonstrate a knowledge of the vocabulary specific to the visual arts and develop a proficiency in visual literacy that will prepare them for graduate study and/or careers in the visual arts, architecture, the media, and related fields), 3 (Engage with the curatorial and institutional dimensions of art collections and exhibitions by studying at local cultural institutions, including the Cleveland Museum of Art and the Cleveland Museum of Contemporary Art), and 4 (Be able to locate, interpret and analyze primary and secondary sources relevant to solving research problems in the visual arts). These are goals numbers 2, 4, and 5 in the Humanities program. We developed value rubrics for data collected during the past academic year and this assisted with our curriculum mapping work (Appendix G), in which all departmental faculty members participated. This information was consolidated by the departmental assessment coordinator.

The Department found strong evidence that goals 2, 3, and 4 as outlined above for Art History and the corresponding goals 2, 4, and 5 for Humanities were being met. This was based on information collected from course syllabi, student exams, papers, and video projects. It also included information from student applications to graduate school (including a C.V., writing sample, and statement of purpose). The data we collected suggested that both the programs in Humanities and Art History were very strong in helping students to meet the goals in these three areas and that there was further evidence (although not the specific focus of this report) that the other goals (1 and 5) were being met. Although the students were meeting the goals for “locating, interpreting and analyzing primary and secondary sources relevant to solving research problems in the visual arts,” we also discussed ways in which we can strengthen assignments and syllabi within the Department to help students become even more excellent and to even exceed these goals. There was evidence that some of these goals were being exceeded based on the work of one of our students who had completed both the Art History program and the Humanities program and who had continued on in the Master’s Program In Humanities (and was thus enrolled in AH499 as part of his graduate program.). We also agreed to work on expanding certain categories in the value rubrics we have created. While the

21 measures that we used this year seem to be reliable, valid, and sufficient, we are going to work to isolate more data later this year, especially that based on student work, student capstone projects, and information gathered from our alumni – especially those who have gone on to graduate school and those who have found employment in fields related to their majors.

During Academic Year 2015-2016, we have made changes in pedagogy in order to make sure that students choosing one of the majors in the Department are successfully completing learning goals number 5 (for AH) and number 6 (for HUM) (Recognize, understand, and apply critical, theoretical, and methodological approaches to the history of representation understood within broader socio-cultural and interdisciplinary perspectives). While there is some evidence that students are doing this , we are seeking ways to make this more explicit in assignments. We are also committed to finding ways to help students excel in the area of research (goal 4 for AH and goal 5 for HUM) by creating classroom assignments that give more explicit information about use of style guides and that make more explicit differences between primary and secondary sources and the ways that they can help students to solve research problems in the visual arts.

Evidence of student learning (syllabi, assignments, examinations, student projects, student course evaluations) is also available on request.

VII. COMPARATIVE POSITION A. Comparison with Direct Competitors We have focused on schools that are major direct competitors in the area of admissions: Baldwin-Wallace, Xavier, Ohio University, Dayton, and Miami of Ohio. Baldwin-Wallace and Xavier do not currently offer a major in either Art History or Humanities. Xavier has no full time art historians and Baldwin-Wallace has only one on staff. Thus, we have looked at other schools that might offer better comparisons. These include Santa Clara (a Jesuit school with a program that is close to us in terms of the number of full time faculty and the art history major offered) and Kenyon (which is slightly closer geographically and with the same number of full time art historians as John Carroll). Upon the suggestion of our administration, we also looked at Elon University. Each of these additional schools offers an art history major. When comparators are discussed, there is sometimes reluctance to look at schools such as Miami and Ohio University. Even though they are public and larger schools, they are included here because we compete against them for students. Moreover, their art history programs share some similarities with us in the number of full time faculty (four at Ohio University and six at Miami) and types of art history major that each school offers. Also, please see Appendix K. Each of these schools offers at least a one or two semester introductory survey course. Each (even BW and Xavier who do not have art history majors) offer courses that serve both their art history majors and their universities’ core or general education requirements. With the exception of the two schools that have no art history major, the others all require some type of capstone project. All of these schools have a gallery space that is managed by the respective department. All of these schools offer at least a small major in studio art and some offer large programs in studio art and design. Each of these departments, especially those with an art history major, appears to have a full time staff member providing visual resources support. Finally, in their make-up, each is defined as an Art Department, Art and Art History Department, or Art and Design Department. See Appendix K.

22 Comparison with these programs strongly suggests it would be beneficial to John Carroll’s art history offerings to have a stronger presence in the university core (which was the case in its previous core. Offering a survey course is clearly a part of best practices (see below in section B) in art history departments. It is also a best practice for universities to offer such a course as part of the general university core. Looking at our comparators reveals that it would also be beneficial for the Department to have better support staff (at least a full time secretary/visual resource support staff member), some sort of gallery space that serves the needs of the department and its students, and some sort of program in studio art and design (either in the form of a small major and/or minor program) that is staffed by one or more full time faculty members. At John Carroll, the need for such staffing and program offerings, is indicated by the Art History and Humanities majors requiring at least one studio art course as part of the major, and also the presence of a fine arts component in the new core (despite the lack of existing full time tenure track faculty – called for in best practices by the College Art Association. The extent that these factors are related to best practices in the field will be addressed in the next section of this report. B. Best Practices in the Field This section considers three issues facing the Department with a look at best practices in the field. Note: The largest scholarly organization in this country for art historians is the College Art Association, which also serves studio artists. For their best-practice guidelines, please see http://www.collegeart.org/guidelines/histethics. This code is mainly rooted in professional ethics concerning hiring, tenure, and promotion. Some of the issues considered below are not directly addressed. Issue 1: Student engagement – How do we increase student interest in art history at all levels? How do we gain more visibility despite some of the disadvantages (identified in section III) we have faced in the last several years? How do we attract more students (majors, minors, and students in search of elective courses) and help them understand the benefits of studying the arts in our global world? Beside the fact that visual arts and art history are being sidelined in our university’s new curriculum (despite its calls for integration), the Department is obscured on campus by its location in the science building. Previous to the 2009 move, the Department was located near History, Religious Studies, and English. Should there be any future re-organizing of academic spaces on campus, it would make sense to include a re-consideration of Art History’s physical location. It might also be beneficial for the university administration to take a comprehensive look at the university’s interdisciplinary majors. In recent years, fewer students have been drawn to the Humanities area major; it may be that the interdisciplinary majors are competing with one another in a way that benefits no single program and even causes unnecessary duplication. It is also clear that the Humanities major has especially suffered from the lack of visibility. The Department might also consider expanding its extracurricular activities (field trips, social events, a student organization, etc.). It is unclear as to whether there are “best practices” in this area, but students at the university often need encouragement to pursue interests that lead them off campus and into new areas of experience. Over seventy students attended a recent Friday afternoon field trip to see “Painting the Modern Garden: Monet to Matisse” at the Cleveland Museum of Art, so it is clear that, despite recent enrollment challenges, students are interested in experiencing the visual arts.

23 Increased student engagement also might come about through responses to Issue 2. Issue 2: Curricular change – How do we integrate ourselves into the new core curriculum? What other reasons might we have to evolve our curricular offerings? The Department is currently re-thinking its one-semester survey course now that it is no longer an explicit part of the core curriculum. The Department is in agreement that having a survey course is valuable and meaningful (see the previous section for comparator data); it would seem to us to be an undeniable best practice. Last year saw the creation of a new course designation, AH 201 (Introduction to World Art), in the hopes that it could be approved for the new core (see Appendix F.4.A). Should this happen, the Department will likely need to offer multiple sections per semester to fill out the gaps left by the phasing out of AH 101. The new core might also require the Department to rethink its advanced art history courses. To participate in the core, we will need to offer either linked courses or components in faculty learning communities. Successful integration of departmental course offerings into the new curriculum will allow our majors and minors (whose numbers have admittedly grown smaller in recent years) to successfully acquire the number of credits needed to fulfill program requirements. This action is also likely to contribute to an increase in the number of majors and minors in our department, especially given the fact that the new core was designed (with fewer overall credit hour requirements) to encourage students to seek more double majors and to choose additional minors. Despite the fact that best practices (as seen in the course offerings of our competitors) suggest the importance of providing students with surveys of key historical periods, the new core forces us to rethink the content of these courses as well as how they are taught. Ongoing investigation of new pedagogies is healthy, but we must also consider ways to provide the skills that students need to be successful in our majors. The Department might think more about coursework as skill building, with an emphasis on new types of student projects. The implicit interdisciplinarity of art history as a practice might be surfaced more intentionally. Work being done at other universities in these areas might be studied (see, for example, Roddey Reid, “The Crisis of the Humanities and the Public Research Universities: University of California, San Diego, as a Case Study,” Occasion: Interdisciplinary Studies in the Humanities v. 6 [October 1, 2013] = http://arcade.stanford.edu/occasion/crisis-humanities-and-public-research-universities-uc-san-diego-case-study). Further motivation for taking a look at our pedagogy can be found in the 2013 Hart Research Associates survey of employers and what they look for when hiring college graduates. Among the qualities most desired were oral and written communication skills, critical-thinking and problem-solving skills, and a capacity to work in diverse and global environments. While acquisition of these skills is already an important benefit of the study of art history, our department might reposition itself by emphasizing how such skills can be acquired through its course offerings. We would welcome any initiatives in this area offered by university’s Center for Teaching and Learning. Issue 3: What, if any, changes should be made to our studio classes? How might a more professional approach to these courses (and at least some modest commitment of financial resources) benefit the larger university, while also benefiting our existing programs in Art History and Humanities? First, see the discussion of this issue in the previous section (VII A). The Department has recently added a studio requirement for art history majors (one course). The new core curriculum also has a one credit hour creative and performing arts requirement. Increased studio offerings within the Department might serve to bring new visibility and new students to the field of art history at a variety

24 of levels. However, any expansion of the studio curriculum would likely require some investment in facilities and/or faculty. A gallery space for displaying student work (and work by others) would also lend visibility to the Department. C. Unique Features We believe that the following are unique and valuable features of our Department and its programs: - Our course offerings in art history are taught overwhelmingly by full-time, tenured faculty with Ph.D.s. Students arguably receive higher quality of instruction and attention. - We offer programs that can be tailored to individual student needs through close interaction (e.g., small course sizes, independent studies) and individualized programs (the Humanities major). The Humanities major/minor has virtually no costs to the university and allows students to create a self-designed integrative curriculum. This program seems to suffer from a lack of visibility; some of this can be addressed immediately. When the university instituted a new online registration system, students were given the opportunity to choose courses by clicking on links organized by departments and on links organized under the heading of interdisciplinary majors and minors. It appears that since the time when this practice was instituted, the interdisciplinary program in Humanities has never been listed among the other interdisciplinary majors and minors (East Asian Studies, Women and Gender Studies, etc.). It has also not been listed under the link to courses by subject/Department, even though “International Cultures” is listed, and the Humanities Graduate program has its own link. - We have an abundance of local cultural institutions that students can draw upon for study, internships, and jobs (the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Museum of Contemporary Art, Spaces Gallery, the Akron Art Museum, etc.). Area libraries offer rich opportunities for student research. Our career center has grant funding for some student internships (Great Lakes Career Ready Internships). - Students interested in residing in northeast Ohio after graduation can and have moved on to graduate programs at Case Western Reserve University, Kent State University, Cleveland State University, and JCU. - We have a small art collection, but no gallery space, and insufficient support staff, so that this resource is underutilized.

VIII. CONCLUSION A. Summary of Program Strengths and Weaknesses Strengths. The department’s primary strength is its faculty who are highly committed to delivering high-quality learning experiences to our students. As a smaller university JCU allows close interactions between students and faculty. Students are allowed to grow as individual learners within the university community. Through its new assessment procedures (see section VI above) faculty are more committed than ever to student learning. Department faculty meet regularly so that decision-making is based on group consensus. Because the department is small, all faculty members participate in all aspects of departmental governance. This leads to a shared sense of responsibility and transparency. See also the unique features described in VII C above.

25 Weaknesses. Enrollments have dropped off in recent years. We have identified a number of factors that have had an impact upon this. See III C above. The new core curriculum poses unusually large challenges for the department; vigorous efforts are underway to meet these challenges. We are hopeful that the current core committee will be amenable to what we believe can be major contributions by the department to this major change in the curriculum at JCU. For further details, see sections I D and III A above. Also, see ongoing work for new core courses in the Appendix (sections D, E, and F). B. Action Plan

1. Vision Statement – the Department of Art History & Humanities will continue to provide its students a range of learning experiences, both inside and outside the classroom. We will expand and strengthen our commitment to develop graduates who exhibit a range of knowledge and skills that prepare them for future degree work and/or professional opportunities. 2. Improvements Using Current Resources It is hoped that newly implemented assessment-related activities (see sections I B and VI) will improve student learning and how we measure it. We hope to continue creating additional courses for the new core curriculum, including an introductory survey of world art (see Appendix F.4.a). We look forward to the university offering professional development programs dealing with new approaches to pedagogy and student learning. It is hoped that the recently resurrected Center for Teaching and Learning and the newly created position of Associate Dean for the Humanities will lead the way here. 3. Improvements Requiring New Resources For the teaching of art history, high quality classrooms are essential (see section V above). Because such classrooms arguably benefit other faculty (e.g., anyone interested in teaching film studies), investment in classroom technology is a good investment for the university. If the department is to enhance its studio offerings, some investment in faculty and facilities will be necessary. See sections VII A-B above.

IX. DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

Note: These questions were developed by the university administration. The department would be happy to receive feedback from the reviewers on the action steps discussed throughout this report and especially those outlined in sections VII and VIII. 1. In the Old Core, Art History courses fulfilled international and divisional requirements that will no longer exist in three more years. The department is moving to an introductory world art survey that as part of a learning community would be applicable to one of the new requirements--a course in the category “Engaging the Global Community.” They are also developing courses for the linked course requirement “Examining the Human Experience.” Are there other strategies you would recommend to fully engage with the New Core?

26 2. Art History requires a single-semester survey, (AH 101, soon to become AH 201) as prerequisite to all other AH courses, including drawing, painting, and graphic design. Does this align with the expectations of peer universities? What are its implications for enrollment? Are there other approaches to introductory courses that would be useful to consider?

3. As of the new 2015-2017 Undergraduate Bulletin and as part of our new core requirements, Art History requires a capstone portfolio for its majors. Do you have any advice as to how to structure or administer this requirement?

4. As of the new 2015-2017 Undergraduate Bulletin, Art History requires a studio art class as part of the major. Since there are no full-time studio art faculty, are there staffing implications and strategies to consider? How might we think of the relationship between studio art and art history in ways that strengthen both?

5. Art History graduates fewer than five majors a year--for 2015/2016 the number will be two. Are these numbers typical for AH departments at similar institutions? If not, what strategies--be they curricular, marketing, or instruction--might improve these numbers? (Minors are similarly few.)

6. The Art History Department is home to the Humanities major and minor, flexible programs that requires the majority of coursework to be in Art History and Literature. There are generally no students graduating in this major. Are there ways to make it more attractive, or should it be eliminated?

7. Given the small number of majors, does it make sense to integrate Art History with another department? If not, what are the implications for the department going forward?

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