Contact

award2@fsu.edu
Website

About

Amber Ward, PhD, is an assistant professor of art education at Florida State University. Before joining the faculty at FSU, Dr. Ward was an assistant professor of art education and Credential Advisor for the Pre-Credential Program in Art at California State University, Sacramento. She also has experience teaching art to learners in elementary, middle, and high school. Dr. Ward received a PhD in art education with a Certificate in Qualitative Research from the University of Missouri. She earned an MAAE from the Maryland Institute College of Art and a BFA from Colorado State University.

Dr. Ward’s research considers who and what matters in learning/teaching and why, in a program that connects the outside world both with humanity and art. Using creative approaches to inquiry, she explores posthuman and poststructural theories and concepts to reimagine learning/teaching otherwise and mend the world around us. Her scholarship can be found in Art Education, Art/Research International: A Transdisciplinary Journal, Arts & Humanities in Higher Education, IMAG, Journal of Embodied Research, Knowledge Cultures, Studies in Art Education, Qualitative Inquiry, and Visual Arts Research. Dr. Ward has exhibited her artwork in solo and group exhibitions in Australia, Colorado, Florida, Missouri, Maryland, New York, and South Carolina and has presented her work at international, national, and state conferences. She has served as Art/Research International: A Transdisciplinary Journal Section Editor, Art Education Editorial Review Board Member, National Art Education Association Pacific Regional Director of the Higher Education Division, and National Art Education Association Women’s Caucus Board Member (Outreach Coordinator and Research Coordinator).

Education

2015 PhD, University of Missouri; Department of Learning, Teaching, & Curriculum
2009 MAAE, Maryland Institute College of Art, The Center for Art Education
2000 BFA, Colorado State University, Department of Art & Art History

Research Areas

Qualitative inquiry, creative inquiry, arts informed research, fibers and sculpture, feminism(s), posthuman and poststructural theories

Select Scholarly/Creative Works & Awards

• Ward, A. (in press). Chasing charms as concept. Qualitative Inquiry.
• ABC.* (in press). (K)not mattering: Ethical (re)considerations of material, methodological, and pedagogical responsibilities. International Review of Qualitative Research.
• Ward, A. (2021). Charmed pedagogy. IMAG, 12, 34-38.
• Ward, A. (2021). Visualizing data to engage intra-active art: Unsettling gender roles and promoting educational responsibility. Journal of Social Theory in Art Education, 41, 66-81. https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/jstae/vol41/iss1/6/
• Christ, R. C., Kuby, C. R., Shear, S. B., & Ward, A. (2021). (Re)encountering A Thousand Plateaus: Producing 1000 trail(ing)s. Arts and Humanities in Higher Education. doi:10.1177/14740222211004807

* ABC, or AmberBeckyCreative, is an ongoing collaboration between Amber Ward and Dr. Rebecca C. Christ (Florida International University). Ward and Christ contribute equally to all written and creative work.