Making American Art an Engaging General Education Course

Humanities courses are often populated with students who primarily take these offerings to meet General Education requirements. American art classes can provide opportunities for students to think analytically and consider what is included as well as what is omitted in visual and textual formats. This article provides examples and the pedagogical rationales for a range of in-class and out-of-class activities that enable active learning, critical thinking, creativity, and kinesthetic engagement. Creating on-line resources to replace a textbook, taking field trips on or adjacent to campus, and exhibition critique and label-writing activities can be easily adapted to campus- and online-learning settings at little or no cost. These approaches address some of the challenges that the academy, like the museum, face: who, how, and what one learns; how to balance the canon with works of art, topics, issues, and ideas related to those who have traditionally not been represented; and how to equalize access to institutions.