Sara Scott Shields Appointed as Chair of the FSU Department of Art Education
The College of Fine Arts is pleased to announce Dr. Sara Scott Shields has been appointed Chair of the Department of Art Education effective August 7, 2020. The College and Department extend thanks to Dr. Antonio Cuyler and Dr. Jeff Broome, who have served as Interim Chairs since Dr. Dave Gussak stepped down in 2018.
We are fortunate to have Sara Scott Shields, PhD joining the leadership team of the College of Fine Arts, as Chair of the Department of Art Education and the collection of programs housed therein. Dr. Shields is a tenured Associate Professor of Art Education, well-established in the field and wonderfully suited to taken on the role of lead administrator for the department. I welcome Sara aboard and I am enthusiastic about the leadership and direction she will bring.
– James Frazier, Dean
Sara Scott Shields, Ph.D. currently serves as director of FSU’s Masters in Art Education with Teacher Certification program. She received her BFA in Ceramics and Art Education and her MaED in Art Education from East Carolina University, later receiving her PhD in Art Education from The University of Georgia after teaching high school art for six years.
I’m thrilled to begin this leadership journey and can’t imagine doing it with a better department. I see this experience as the chance for the department to work together to build a stronger community for our students, faculty and staff.
Her research focus is on identity development through arts engagement, with a specific focus on how the arts can help students and teachers understand themselves in relationship to the diverse worlds we teach and live in. Her research and curriculum development is focused on the integration of contemporary art, community and personal histories, and how these might work together to create unique opportunities for art educators and students to engage in civically minded and socially just educative encounters.
Dr. Scott Shields received the 2019 Southeastern Higher Educator of the Year award from the National Art Education Association, 2018 Higher Educator of the Year award from the Florida Art Education Association, and 2016 Excellence in Teaching Award recipient for the FSU College of Fine Arts.
Dr. Scott Shields joined the art education faculty in the fall of 2014 and has infused new topics and approaches – such as arts-based research and technological innovations – into familiar coursework. She blazed a path with new and excited learning opportunities such as the “Art for Social Justice Interdisciplinary Art Camp” run by art education majors for 6th – 12th grade students. Dr. Scott Shields’ door is always open to students for advising, and she is largely responsible for the successful reinstallation of Florida State University’s Student Chapter of the National Art Education Association.
For more information on the FSU Department of Art Education, visit arted.fsu.edu.