NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Elliot W. Eisner, Lee Jacks Professor of Education and professor of art at Stanford University, will speak Friday, Sept. 29, at the Vanderbilt University Student Life Center. The speech is the second of the 2006-2007 Chancellor’s Lecture Series and part of Vanderbilt’s annual Family Weekend.
The event will begin at 6 p.m., preceded by a complimentary reception at 5 p.m. in the Student Life Center. Parking will be available in Central Garage at 25th Avenue South and Highland Avenue.
In his lecture, “What Do the Arts Teach?,” Eisner will explore the ways in which the process of thinking and creating artistically can and should be used to improve educational practice in every discipline. He argues that that the distinctive forms of thinking needed to create artistically crafted work are relevant not only to what students do, but also to virtually all aspects of what educators do – from the design of curricula, to the practice of teaching, to the features of the environment in which students and teachers live.
The author or editor of 15 books, Eisner travels extensively around the world lecturing on education. He has received many prestigious awards for his work including the John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship, a Senior Fulbright Fellowship and most recently the Harold McGraw Prize in Education. Eisner is past president of the National Art Education Association, the International Society for Education Through Art, the American Educational Research Association and the John Dewey Society. He is also a fellow of the Royal Society of Art in the United Kingdom, the Royal Norwegian Society of Arts and Sciences and the U.S. National Academy of Education.
Eisner was trained as a painter at The Art Institute of Chicago and later studied design and art education at Illinois Institute of Technology’s Institute of Design. He received his Ph.D from the University of Chicago.
This event is free and open to the public. Reservations are not required, but seating is limited and available on a first-come, first-seated basis.
Video of the lecture will be Webcast from VUCast, Vanderbilt’s news network, www.vanderbilt.edu/news.
The Chancellor’s Lecture Series serves to bring to Vanderbilt and the wider Nashville community intellectuals who are shaping the world today. For more information about the Chancellor’s Lecture Series, visit www.vanderbilt.edu/chancellor/cls.
Media Contact: Amber N. Sims, (615) 322-NEWS
amber.sims@vanderbilt.edu