Designing curricula with
an impact
About Us
This project combines place-based curriculum design, interdisciplinary collaboration between art and civics education, and the activation of local histories and current events.
Our aim is to support the development of a civically engaged art education, which revises and updates the term civics itself.
We ask: How might a civics education curriculum use art to become responsive to, inclusive of, and in the service of communities whose status as civic actors is frequently called into question?
The Building Blocks
INTERSECT SOCIAL JUSTICE + SUBJECTIVITY
Through embodied practices, art inquirers can situate themselves in the local histories, stories, and issues of their community.
TRANSFORM ART MAKING INTO PRAXIS
Material reflections guide students through a process of asking critical questions, and generating a response.
BUILD COMMUNITY
This process opens doors for participants to engage with a broader community, in support of action for social change.
The Foot Soldiers
The team
This project was initiated by Dr. Sara Scott Shields and Dr. Rachel Fendler, both professors of Art Education at Florida State University.
We have worked along the way with a number of dedicated and talented graduate and undergraduate research assistants.
The project is currently expanding with the participation of classroom teachers throughout the United States.
Sara Scott Shields, PhD
Associate Professor
Rachel Fendler, PhD
Assistant ProfesorLatest Projects
CEAE in Action
Curriculum Design
2021
With funding from FSU’s Institute of Politics, we embarked on a collaborative curriculum design experience focused on bridging what we learned in the summer intensives with real-world secondary classroom application. We brought together pairs of arts and social studies teachers from across the east coast for three months to design and share art+civics curriculums. Click the info button to register for the upcoming webinar series that shares their work
Summer Intensive
2019
In the Summer of 2019, we hosted the second meeting of middle and high school students from across Tallahassee. With a new group of teens, we explored the state archives, visited FAMU’s Black archives, interviewed key stakeholders from the Civil Rights Movement, visited key locations, and talked to local artists. The week was filled with small-scale artmaking and culminated with the creation of a finished piece. Click to see images of students in action!
Summer Intensive
2018
In the Summer of 2018, with funding from the Arts and Humanities Program Enhancement Grant at FSU, we hosted middle and high school students from across Tallahassee. During the week-long intensive, teens explored the history of the Civil Rights Movement in Tallahassee. The week culminated in artmaking that explored teens’ personal connections to the movement and how it impacts them today. Click to watch a video of students exploring Tallahassee.
Latest News
From the News
Unit Plan: Community Mapping – A creative encounter with living history
Community Mapping: A creative encounter with living history This unit engages students in archival, historical and artistic research, as they study social movements, and their
Making art + Global Inter-Connections at the Smithsonian
We’re looking forward to participating in an upcoming webinar hosted by the Smithsonian Institute Digital Learning Lab and the Smithsonian Institute Asian Pacific American Center!
New publications: Read all about it!
We're very pleased to announce TWO publications reporting on the Tallahassee Foot Soldier project.
Funding provided by
Arts & Humanities Program Enchancement Grant
2018-2020. Council on Research & Creativity. Florida State University.