Arts Integration

We live in an increasingly intimidating and overwhelming world. The sheer volume of information, the speed of technological change coupled with swirling world events laid bare under the spotlight of an ever-more-connected world leave many searching for handrails. It's an even more poignant situation for students coming of age at this moment in time. While science serves as an agent of escalating change, it also contains within itself living seeds of perennial mystery, awe and wonder.

This session will provide attendees with an overview of the National Academies study: Branches from the Same Tree. This study examined an important trend in higher education: integration of the humanities and arts with sciences, engineering, and medicine at the undergraduate and graduate level which proponents argue will better prepare students for work, life, and citizenship.

In this session Merryl will describe how she evaded the KGB during the Cold War with a secret musical code and how that code, and indeed music are key to core principles of cybersecurity.  Merryl is working with CISA (Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency) to examine the preparation of cybersecurity professionals specifically how the arts matter in the field.

Numbers Never Lie will be presented as a music video that explores how statistics can both illuminate and distort issues pertaining to politics and social justice. It is produced by Rock In The Classroom which is a nonprofit organization promoting creative arts in education programs. A draft of the video will be included through the email link on the proposal page. The song examines how statistics can be a powerful tool that can empower historically marginalized populations and bolster arguments on the need to take action on environmental issues.

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine has launched a study on the mutual integration of the arts and humanities with science, technology, engineering, math, and medicine in higher education. This study is examining the evidence behind the assertion that mutually integrative educational programs lead to improved educational and career outcomes for undergraduate and graduate students.

Atomic Clock will be presented as a music video poster that explores the interplay between objective time set by clocks and subjective time experienced by humans. It is produced by Rock In The Classroom which is a nonprofit organization that creates topical music videos for educational purposes and general audiences. A draft of our video will be included through the email link on the proposal page. Atomic Clock examines the possibility of time as an illusory construct even as most of us do not apply this principle to our daily lives.

This session will familiarize participants with the research that supports K-12 arts integration/STEAM literature, as well as why it's fundamental to higher education. The session will also offer thoughts on advantages and limitations of music, relative to the other arts, for learning STEM.