IN-PERSON MADRID FOCUS ON PEDAGOGY. SECTION A

Abstract

In the evolving landscape of art and design education, cultivating imaginative abilities and embodied knowledge is essential for both educators and learners. This paper examines the pivotal role of the educator as facilitator, collaborator, and mentor in fostering experiential, student-centered learning. It proposes integrating expressive arts practices within design pedagogy to enhance sensory engagement, memory enhancement and creative cognition. This proposal further positions imagination as epistemic and not merely aethetic, foregrounds the centrality of the body and senses in perception and creation, and frames art-making as an inquiry-based process that generates emergent knowledge. Through qualitative, art-based research conducted with design students at the Lebanese American University, this study investigates how intermodal and multisensory experiences, ranging from auditory and tactile exploration to performative engagement, mediate the translation of imaginative concepts into tangible design outcomes. By foregrounding the interplay between liminal imaginative spaces and embodied experience, this work highlights the significance of imagination in bridging internal reflection and external creation and opening new pathways of possibilities. The paper advocates pedagogical strategies that harness expressive arts methodology to enrich learning environments, amplify student agency, and cultivate holistic, embodied understanding in contemporary art and design education. It emphasizes phenomenological principles as foundational to learning, where knowledge emerges through active sensory participation.