Why dont we (really) teach the history of the graphic arts in our Universities?

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Gay Sweely

Eastern Kentucky University, USA

: J Comput Eng Inf Technol

Abstract

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At Eastern Kentucky University in Richmond, KY, we have one of the most progressive Graphic Design programs in the central Ohio Valley region of the US. A majority of our Graphic Design students go on to get very lucrative jobs across the state and in the country, and we have a superb record of student success in our program of Graphic Design. Author’s proposed presentation screams at historians around the globe who have failed in presenting a comprehensive course concerning the Graphic Arts. Many colleges and universities teach courses concerning the history of Graphic Design, but they do not actually teach a comprehensive course concerning the history of the Graphic Arts. While constructing our new EKU course this past summer, author discovered that many American high schools teach the Graphic Arts, but these varied high school courses were basically design courses and not offered as courses concerning the history of the Graphic Arts. This past year, author has created an original (and hugely successful) art history course presenting the Graphic Arts at the tertiary level. It was a lot of work, but it was fun, illuminating, entertaining, and very educational for those pursuing degrees in the Graphic Arts and our Graphic Design majors as well.

Biography

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Gay Sweely has received numerous city, national, and international science fair awards and scholarships; and was educated at Illinois Wesleyan University, the University of Utah, the University of Canterbury (NZ), and the University of Melbourne (AUST) in art history and architectural history. Her research centers on American native, New Zealand, and Australian art and architecture. She received the Art Educator of the Year award (Higher Education) Kentucky Art Education Association: 2005-06. At EKU, she is a Professor of art history, principally Non-Western art history; former president of Chapter 122, National Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi; a faculty technical editor; awarded the prestigious Roark Lectureship award (2015); and has taught, published articles, and presented papers in New Zealand, Australia, China, and the USA.

E-mail: gc.sweely@eku.edu