Archive for the 'Headline' Category

Creating a Better Place to Live: The Argument for Craft Education

Published on December 16, 2011 in Book, Headline and Newsletter. 0 Comments

Creating a Better Place to Live: The Argument for Craft Education by Howard Cannatella is now available as part of The Arts in Society series.

Where would we be without the movements that corroborate our feelings and desires and make a practical difference in our lives? In a timely fashion, this book challenges our understanding of craft activity. Creating a Better Place to Live: The Argument for Craft Education reads as a social critique that champions the culture and relevance of this practice in a refreshing way. A redefined account of craft activity is given, while different positions are postulated as to its role. This book asserts that the teaching, professional practice, and policy making of craft activity needs to change in order to benefit society in a more constructive manner. Far from being just an adjunct to production requirements and a slave to economic conceptions of life, the theory, history, and contemporary practice of craft activity can be utilized considerately to create a better environment for us all. The delights, hard hitting conceptions, foibles, and intelligence of craft work are debated. This discourse argues that craft activity is vital for living well and is a voice of freedom, common observation, collective effort, and reason that can affect our social cohesion, sympathetic unity, independence, and passions in life.

Dr Howard Cannatella is a teacher and philosopher in art education and a practising artist and designer. He lives in British Columbia, Canada with his wife Kirsten and their three children

Call for Journal Editor

Published on August 30, 2011 in Headline, Journal and Newsletter. 0 Comments

The International Journal of the Arts in Society seeks an editor, or team of editors, for a one-year term. This is an opportunity to make a significant contribution to what we believe is one of the leading journals in its field, the journal’s associated conference and, more broadly, the knowledge-community which the journal and conference seek to serve.

The roles of the editor are to:

write an introduction for the Journal volume which would be included in the first issue for the year, and possibly on the website, the newsletter and other appropriate places or for the purposes of marketing and promotion.
collate papers addressing a theme of the editor’s choosing into a book, to be launched at the conference at the completion of the editor’s term. The chapters may be drawn from submissions to the journal during this or recent years, and other material as considered appropriate.
actively solicit manuscripts for the Journal from well-known and notable members of the community—these would could be refereed if the author wished, or regarded as ‘invited papers’.
assist the Commissioning Editor with suggestions of supplementary peer reviewers for specific papers (and this will never be burdensome – note that the Commissioning Editor of the Journal finalizes a majority of the peer reviewer requirements based on thematic matching and ‘mutual obligation’ principles in which all author requested to review up to three other papers).
promote the journal throughout their network and other associated networks.
maintain regular communications with the community via periodical blog posts to the community website (which feeds automatically to our email newsletter, Facebook and Twitter).

The editor will be offered a complimentary electronic subscription to the Journal, free copies of the book which they edit, an electronic subscription to the book series as well as complimentary registrations to attend the conferences at the beginning and end of their term.

Qualifications

The Editor of the Journal must possess the following attributes:

They will have successfully obtained higher degree, and have academic teaching and scholarly research experience in an area related to the subject matter of the Journal.
They will have published in this or other comparable scholarly journals.

Applicants are asked to send:

a cover letter outlining their interest and relevant experience, and the ways in which you would propose to enhance the profile of the journal
a curriculum vitae
a special theme outline: a title with paragraph explanation.

Please send applications and supporting documentation to journals@artsinsociety.com.

The deadline for applications is 26 September 2011.

The End of Art

Published on July 13, 2011 in Book, Headline and Newsletter. 0 Comments

The End of Art: A Comparative Analysis of French Postmodern Art Theorists by Marie-Thérèse Killiam is now available as part of The Arts in Society series.

The book studies the demystification of art in the 20th century by a variety of contemporary French authors, from sociologists to philosophers, who commented on the meaning and function of art. Most of these writers who are famous in their own disciplines for their innovative ideas, share an interest in art criticism, which channels their particular philosophies and esthetic interests. Postmodern theorists like Duve and Bourdieu see art as social posturing and a manifestation of cultural fetishism in this age of the “n’importe quoi.” Mathematician philosopher Michel Serres and psychoanalyst semiotician Kristeva share an interest in similar Renaissance paintings. All postmodern writers who choose to comment on art turn to masters of past time, who illustrate best their personal esthetics. This choice also reveals their indifference, if not aversion, for contemporary art, in which most see and deplore the death of art, culture, and history today. Such reluctance at looking at the contemporary esthetic expressions of the human condition also explains their own similar stylistic expression, which is frequently morose in character, and often apocalyptic in tone and content.