IN-PERSON: Learning. Life. Work

Abstract

For the past six years, the Maryland Institute College of Art has sponsored the publication of FULL BLEED, an annual journal of art and literature produced through a practicum for graduate and undergraduate students called Publishing Culture. This three-credit course jointly led by faculty from MICA’s graphic design and humanities departments, engages students in the design, editing, production, and launch of FULL BLEED in collaboration with professional writers and artists from around the world. The course has attracted students from multiple disciplines within the college: graphic design, illustration, photography, painting, and sculpture, among others. Through developing this course and launching the journal, we have experienced the benefits and challenges inherent in collaborative, project-centered learning. In addition to describing Publishing Culture, the talk will identify two salient difficulties involved in such curricular endeavors: the distribution of influence within the studio-classroom, and the scarcity of time and resources. I will argue that genuine collaborative learning requires that faculty cede much of their traditional authority to students, granting them greater autonomy and direct influence on final outcomes. At the same time, faculty who model collaboration in their teaching must establish the structures that allow students to learn from more experienced collaborators and thus produce outstanding work. Additionally, I will discuss how FULL BLEED faculty have coped with the limits of the semester-length course and what such projects demand of students, faculty, and administrators to ensure student success. The talk will be informed primarily by experience leading the journal through its first six iterations.