Date of Award
4-2016
Degree Name
Master of Arts
Department
Art
First Advisor
Dr. William Charland
Second Advisor
Dr. Christina Chin
Third Advisor
Dr. Cat Crotchett
Keywords
Art, education, humanities, aesthetics, creativity
Access Setting
Masters Thesis-Open Access
Abstract
Art is a subject that has no substitute, as the learning and production of art satisfies a uniquely human need to communicate and connect with other human beings. The marriage of art and society can (and should) be thought of as culture. This author intends to assert that the arts have a critical place in education and indeed human society itself, bringing ancillary benefits to bear on the subject without relying on them as the primary justification for the retention and even expansion of arts programs; education (which could in turn be thought of the dissemination of cultural knowledge) of art is its own merit and the arts themselves are the self-evident value and reward. Presented in this writing is an argument in defense of the presence of the arts in American K-12 and higher education curricula, advocacy for the expansion of such programs, and criticism of the contraction or removal of visual art programs from such curricula.
Recommended Citation
Teague, Thorin, "The Value of the Arts in Education" (2016). Masters Theses. 685.
https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/masters_theses/685