Instructional Technology
Conference 2005
Proposal #32
Title: Visualizing the Humanities: Effective Incorporation of Images in the Classroom
Name:
Daniele Bascelli, Coordinator for Educational Technology
Frederick Langhorst, Associate Professor of Spanish
Kathleen Phillips-Lewis, Associate Professor of History
Tarshia Stanley, Assistant Professor of English
Audience Level: All
Audience: Faculty, Instructional Technology Specialists, General
Length: One Hour
Abstract:
The visual image can be a powerful teaching tool, but many faculty members, trained in a text-based world, are less certain about how to use images effectively in the classroom. This session will offer presentations from three faculty members, representing the disciplines of English, History and Foreign Languages, who will show ways to incorporate visual images into the classroom to enhance critical thinking, to raise awareness and to develop appreciation of other cultures. The presentations will highlight classroom techniques, will show how students can be effectively involved in the understanding of visual images, and will indicate useful sources and suggested pedagogies for the classroom use of images.
Description:
The ready availability of images for the classroom provides new options for faculty members teaching in the Humanities. Still, this surfeit of information is a mixed blessing, first leaving many of us wondering where to encounter suitable images, then wondering how to apply to visual images the teaching skills that we have developed in a more text-based education. This session will feature brief visual presentations by faculty in English, History and Foreign Languages, each focusing on strategies for incorporating images into the classroom in meaningful ways.
The first presenter will consider "Images as Integral to Critical Thinking" and will present examples from the History classroom. There will be examples of images used both in History classes and in a multi-disciplinary course on the African Diaspora. These images are suitable in a variety of History classes and in other disciplines. Student perception and thinking about historical events can often be better focused through classroom appropriation of historical images.
The second presenter will discuss "Raising Awareness in Women," showing how students can learn to "read" images of women in the popular media. There will be examples from "The Ashley Project," a Spelman College student compilation of images designed to help young women deal with issues of health, body perception, safety and media representations.
The final presenter will show examples from the REALIA Project (www.realiaproject.org). This searchable database, designed to enhance the teaching of foreign languages, provides images that are royalty-free and faculty-reviewed. The discussion will center on ways to enhance (rather than displace) traditional classroom practices with visual images.
The presenters will look at questions of how to maintain best practices in the "new" classroom environment and how to teach students the critical skills necessary for understanding the images that, in some cases, form an unexamined part of their daily lives or, in other cases, may be totally foreign to their experience and understanding.
Session Type: Lecture/Presentation
Contact information/affiliation:
Daniele Bascelli, Coordinator for Educational Technology Spelman College
Campus Box 1552
Atlanta, GA 30314
404.270.5594, dbascell@spelman.edu
Frederick Langhorst, Associate Professor of Spanish
Spelman College
Campus Box 571
Atlanta, GA 30314
404.270.5549, flanghor@spelman.edu
Kathleen Phillips-Lewis, Associate Professor of History
Spelman College
Campus Box 298
Atlanta, GA 30314
404.270.5507, klewis@spelman.edu
Tarshia Stanley, Assistant Professor of English
Spelman College
Campus Box 745
Atlanta, GA 30314
404.270.5578, tstanley@spelman.edu
Equipment: Computer with internet connection, CD-ROM, projector