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“Creative, connecting, illuminating, inspiring.”

This is how one instructor described the seminar on remote learning in the fine and performing arts, held in summer 2020 by the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) and the Office of Information Technology’s (LXDs). 

The seminar addressed specific challenges faced by faculty and students in the fine and performing arts during remote learning. In conversations among faculty in the arts, the CTL staff, and the LXDs, some key discipline-specific problems emerged, such as making indoor performance spaces and studios safe for student and faculty use; teaching embodied techniques effectively at a distance, and compensating for aspects that don’t translate as easily to remote contexts; giving students access to specialized (often expensive) equipment; and teaching craft and technique as precisely as possible without specialized equipment, when necessary. Faculty also brought up the challenge of building trust and fostering a sense of community over a distance. That sense of community is often an essential part of the arts, where trust helps students perform together, give and take critique from each other, and explore artistic problems and questions effectively.

This was underpinned by a sense that basic needs and problems specific to the fine and performing arts were invisible in larger campus conversations about remote learning. To the campus, “research” was more narrowly understood as belonging to the natural and social sciences, or to critical theory and scholarship, as opposed to something equally accomplished through artistic inquiry, performance and the visual arts.

After hearing these concerns, the CTL and LXDs designed a two-day seminar that sought to create generative conversational spaces and avoid prescriptive or directive solutions. The sessions provided faculty with opportunities to explore their particular challenges in a cross-disciplinary setting and learn from each others’ approaches. 

The first day showcased examples of innovative remote teaching at other institutions. Bruce Finn, who teaches cinematography at the University of Southern California, shared how he built small-scale models in his home to demonstrate lighting techniques to students without his usual equipment. We also showed student work from a costume design course at Shenandoah University, taught by professor Jennifer Adams. Because her course was tailored to dance students, she asked her students to film themselves dancing in clothes they had around the house and reflect on how the cut and drape of the fabric affected their movement.

The day wrapped with a conversation on connection, community, and collectives in a remote learning environment. The discussion centered on the question of humanizing a technology-mediated learning experience.  

The second day used as a starting point to help faculty ideate in a time-limited context about complex problems. A notable discussion that emerged from the small groups was the increased reliance on video for teaching dance techniques and how the added layers of intentional framing (via lenses and display monitors) also increased the potential for reducing the humanity of the dancer, turning them into an object for display. 

Finally, we showed how document cameras might be used to demonstrate technique with particular materials. We also shared VoiceThread as an option for hosting asynchronous, remote critiques and workshops. By the end of this session, faculty were sharing their own ideas and technology solutions with each other.

"I came away feeling like it's not about creating a 'perfect' teaching environment but instead about connecting with the students and meeting the class objectives through whatever means necessary."

Nineteen faculty members attended the two half-day sessions. We gathered feedback each day so we could adjust our content if needed. After the first day, one faculty member said, “It was refreshing to see that so many different disciplines are struggling with wanting to keep their classes as engaging as possible while in the remote or hybrid format. I came away feeling like it's not about creating a 'perfect' teaching environment but instead about connecting with the students and meeting the class objectives through whatever means necessary.”

After the seminar finished, another professor shared, “I can't tell you how much better I feel, having taken part in this workshop devoted specifically to us overlooked arts faculty.”