Topic Areas

Institute topic areas were selected for their relevance to the lives of secondary school students, and also for their potential for interdisciplinary exploration.

• Africa & Its Influence introduced participants to artistic traditions as varied as Adinkra cloth printing, Kente cloth weaving, Djembe and Doun Doun drumming, West African storytelling, call and response, and sculpting.
• The Jazz & America segment explored the jazz aesthetic in the works of individual artists from Louis Armstrong to Jackson Pollock, and also examined concepts such as improvisation and collaboration.
• In Considering the Postmodern, participants discovered some order in the eclectic chaos that marks this aesthetic and philosophical "moment." Collage presented an especially useful metaphor for the postmodern practice of dance, music, theater, and the visual arts.

Click on the names of the individual topic areas, above, to view lessons sorted by topic. Or click here to see abstracts of the workshop sessions that helped to introduce these concepts to the institute participants. Faculty biographies and an institute schedule are also available.