Tom Anderson, Ph.D.

Aesthetics and art criticism; social foundations of art and education; ethnographic, critically grounded, and philosophical research methods; visual culture art education.

Tom Anderson, Ph.D., currently holds the Jessie Lovano-Kerr Professor of Art Education at Florida State University, and is the longest serving member of the faculty, having been initially appointed in 1983.

He served a four-year still as Department Chair in the 1990's.

Anderson taught high school and middle school art for several years in the state of Oregon before moving to higher education.

His scholarly publications include two commercially published books, two more produced by public institutions, thirty-five refereed articles, an equal number of commercially produced articles and book reviews, as well as a number of chapters in art education and art appreciation textbooks.

His most recent book, with co-author Melody Milbrandt, is entitled Art for Life: Authentic Instruction in Art, is published by McGraw-Hill.

He has been the invited speaker at more than 50 state, national, and international conferences, from Mississippi to Hawaii, and including Taiwan, Korea, and Japan. His refereed talks number more than 30 and include presentations from Orlando, to Montreal and Brisbane. He has garnered over $100,000 in grant money in the course of his career.

Anderson continues to be an exhibiting creative artist with a number of national refereed exhibitions and several recent one person shows in and around Tallahassee.

In addition, he has executed and directed over twenty community murals with students, school children and community groups over the years. This has led to what he considers to be one of his most important contributions; he co-founded and continues to be a board member of the Guernica Children's Peace Mural Project. Begun in 1995 as commemoration for the 50th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima, the project today consists of more than 70 murals from 45 countries, that have been displayed all over Europe, Asia, North America, and the Middle East.

Anderson's other service activities include more than 30 workshops for teachers in the United States and internationally; service as the Editor for the Journal of Social Research in Art Education (USSEA), Editor of Translations: Theory to Practice (NAEA), Editor of The Journal of Social Research in Art Education (CSAE), and Publications Editor of Studies in Art Education (NAEA), as well as serving on the editorial board of a number of publications.

He has been a curriculum consultant for a number of states and the country of Kuwait, an examiner (in Italy, the United States, and Venezuela), adjudicator (in Wales), and instructor (in Canada) for the International Baccalaureate Program. Anderson also served on the NAEA's national research policy commission, and as a visiting endowed chair at the University of Northern Iowa.

At FSU, Anderson developed and served as the primary faculty representative for the Panama City, Florida, campus's graduate program in art education, which to date has seen about 15 students complete their masters, specialist, or doctoral degrees. He has successfully directed more than 25 doctoral dissertations and continues to serve as major professor for about 20 students. He taught in Florence, Italy, with International Programs, and more recently in Valencia, Spain, Prague, and The Czech Republic.

He teaches at both the graduate and undergraduate levels.

Selected Publications

Tom Anderson and Melody Milbrandt (2005). Art for Life. McGraw-Hill.

Tom Anderson (2000). Real Lives: Art Teachers and the Cultures of School, Heinemann.

"Why and How We Make Art with Implications for Art Education," Arts Education Policy Review, 105(5), pp.31-38. 2004.

"Roots, Reasons, and Structure: Framing Visual Culture Art Education," International Journal of Art Education, 1(3), pp.5-44. 2004 (Taiwan).

"Art Education for Life," International Journal of Art and Design Education, 22(1). pp. 58-66. 2003 (United Kingdom).

"Mandala:Constructing Peace through Art,"Art Education, 55(3), pp.33-39.2002.

"Using Art Criticism Strategies in Ethnographic Research," Visual Arts Research, 26(2), pp.80-87.2000.