Generalist Pedagogies: Strategies for Teaching Beyond Specialization

With fewer tenure lines, dwindling funding, and shrinking departments, more educators are being asked to cover many bases and teach classes beyond their immediate specializations. This panel seeks to inspire discussion – and new perspectives and strategies – on generalist teaching. How might classes, assignments, and advising incorporate different approaches and skills that cross disciplinary, geographic, material, or temporal lines while still maintaining socio-political, historical, and theoretical specificity? How can educators foster more global, inclusive, and responsible content and methodologies despite relative – or initial – unfamiliarity with a certain topic, medium, or field? What are the values and potential pitfalls of generalist teaching, especially in view of disciplinary shifts away from nation-based, chronological, and/or canonical models of study? What should a generalist curriculum mean and look like, what should it offer, and how can we better equip students and educators for this new reality?

This panel welcomes proposals from graduate students, artists, and educators across various fields, including art history, design, studio, and museum studies. It also welcomes perspectives, experiences, and insights from both junior and senior faculty across all types of institutions (SLAC, community, public, and otherwise).