24th Annual Conference of the
Association for Integrative Studies

Theme: Global Connections and Challenges

Blind Collaboration: Art, Medieval Life, and Global Opportunities
Presentation: October 5 th, 2002 10:30-12 noon

Julie Baugnet
Associate Professor of Art
St. Cloud State University
720 4 th Ave. South –KVAC 104
St. Cloud , MN 56301
Phone: 651.698.1418
Email: jabaugnet@stcloudstate.edu

Introduction

This presentation will outline my learning experience as an artist and faculty member working with students on a fully integrated 16-week study-abroad curriculum. I will address how I approached integrated and active learning while teaching in the International Studies (Gen. Ed.) Program at St.Cloud State University. My main goal as an artist was to integrate photography and printmaking into the current curriculum, which has a focus on Medieval Studies. Students spend the semester living and studying at Alnwick Castle in Northumberland, England. Alnwick Castle is the second largest lived in castle in England, Windsor, being the largest. Its roots go back to Norman times and it has been owned by the Percy family since 1309. The castle and grounds has played host to many film and television productions including Becket, Ivanhoe, Elizabeth, and most recently–Harry Potter.

A Brief Overview

One of the goals of St. Cloud State University is to provide students with an opportunity to gain international awareness. To achieve this goal, the International Studies Center offers students the opportunity to study abroad in 9 countries, England being one of them. I fully support adding the international element to the university objectives, since as you may realize, are students are those who live just south of Lake Wobegon, and I believe they desperately need a chance to leave the country, in order to understand who they are and to gain a new perspective.

My Challenge

As stated in the Undergraduate Bulletin, SCSU recognizes that in order to develop quality international experiences for its students, all study abroad programs must be integrated into the host country curriculum and supported by faculty expertise. As an artist I came to the program with a good understanding of art history, photography, and printmaking–I was eager to challenge myself to integrate my expertise into the medieval studies theme. I had taught many courses in art, but worked on only a few collaborations. As I communicated more with the Director in Alnwick, I found out that many of the procedures and teaching fieldtrips were pretty much “set in stone.” I felt awkward asking the British professor, Christine Mitchell, to change her curriculum and collaborate fully with me since I was really a guest faculty for just one semester. As seen from her perspective, this could create havoc and extra work for her every semester. I decided to keep a type of “American politeness” in hopes of maintaining a good relationship and not imposing on her territory or making it harder for her preparations. I took the creative approach; the question I gave myself was “What would it be like to collaborate without the other person knowing it and being inconvenienced? Is it a true collaboration? Is it possible?

After arriving at the castle and looking over the Christine’s syllabus and filed trip schedule, I set out to work on what I called a “blind collaboration.” Throughout the semester I bounced my assignments off of what Christine was saying in the field trips and what she was teaching in her classroom. The text “The Story of Britain, a People’s History”, written by Roy Strong was rich with ideas and helped me understand what the students were learning in Christine’s classroom. Every Friday we boarded a double-decker to embark on a field trip narrated by Christine. We were drawn into a new world where everything was old, we re-lived the lives of the Saxons, we followed the path of William the Conqueror, we experienced the lowly isle of Lindisfarne where Cuthbert wrote the beautifully illuminated Lindisfarne Gospels in 698. We walked Hadrian’s Wall and visited Edinburgh Castle, once home of Mary, Queen of Scotts.We had lunches among gargoyles, and fully felt the presence of a world where everything had a history presence. All of this was a great contrast to Minnesota where mostly 1960’s malls cover the landscape.

My photo and print students became explorers. Their camera lenses and sketchbooks gave them courage to experiment, looking for visuals as one might look for hidden treasures. I camera lens helped the students establish a closer connection and interest with the history. After each field trip, we talked about the stories of what we’ve been seeing and put images together in artists’ books, and other forms of presentation. We talked about the difference of a snapshot, and that of a well-cropped photo that supplied the viewer with more interest. Some writing would accompany the photos so students could keep their history and landmarks straight. Gathering photos and talking about the filed trips made the history more concrete and memorable. While Christine and I had plenty of time to talk, it became unnecessary to have to plan any collaboration, because it all unfolded in a natural way–the history spurred the students’ interest in photography and printmaking, and the photos and prints confirmed what they were learning about medieval England. If not a true collaboration, this was definitely an integration. At midterm we held a class art exhibition. Here are some student slides: Slides 1-30

Learning Made Easy

Aside from integrating the course work into Medieval Studies, I had students give themselves assignments as they traveled on their 2-week breaks. Here, the objectives turned more to themes about travel, social observations, and architecture. Students used their cameras as their way of documenting their travel experiences and showing observations of different cultures. Their job was simple–focus on the new, think about what you’re seeing. They traveled around northern Europe and down to Greece and Spain, and Morocco in the south.

One assignment asked them to interview a shopkeeper and to take photos inside and outside of their shop. This led to many new friendships and understandings. Not only did the student complete the assignment, but in most cases gained a friendship through doing an art project. Interviews were of postal workers, the bloaks who worked at the local fish and chip shop, an Indian cook at the local take-out, the local photographer, and of course there were a few interviews of their favorite bartenders at the Pubs. Students enjoyed the projects, and realized there was more to taking a snapshot than they thought.

Another assignment was to take a photo of their host family, write about their experiences with them for the past 6 weeks, and then present the work to the class. I introduced them to the work of well-known English artist, David Hockey, by showing a video of his photo collage process. With this inspiration they set out to do some experimental collages of their host families. The goal was to create something more than a snapshot and to capture the essence of their character and home setting. This project encouraged them to spend time with their host families, to ask questions, and to experience their homes and lifestyles. I realized that the work they were doing was somewhat easy for them, it came natural, students didn’t work on heavy concepts of art, but rather just continued to click the button every time they saw some new and surprising. The revelation was: “wow, we’re learning and studying without realizing it.” In this type of classroom, students didn’t have boundaries. They didn’t have to enter a classroom to learn, they knew they had to be outside of the 4 walls. They had to travel, go on field trips, and when they left the castle gates, they knew their assignment was to talk with the people, and be open to experiences and to capture the moment. In contrast, a student studying history and photography in Minnesota would not necessarily be so inspired because they take their experiences for granted. In Britain, everything was new and there seemed to be a sense of urgency in trying to capture these new experiences.

Changing Attitudes

The most compelling part of teaching for me is to see the revelations and transformations of the student. Living together each day, sharing our dinners, we had a chance to disseminate our information and to analyze why learning was easier, and more fulfilling while outside of the classroom walls, and outside of Minnesota. It was a luxury for me to be in such close contact with a British historian on a daily basis. Again in contrast–I have colleagues who I talk with in different departments at St. Cloud State, but none of whom I’ve ever worked with so closely. Christine truly inspired the students and her compassion for history was contagious. The field trips were invigorating, and by documenting them with photos and book projects the students had notebooks of historical facts as well as a visual history of England. The cycle of going to a new country, learning, doing, experiencing, ended with a final art exhibition of artists’ books, prints, and photos in the Great Hall.

Conclusion

I believe a study abroad experience should be a focus for every university student. Anything we can do to give students direct global connections will help them no matter what profession they choose. I feel fortunate that St. Cloud State offers this type of integrated, active learning and it is a good model for any international studies curriculum. In my particular case, it worked to create a stronger experience for the students because of the integration. The students were lured into the subject matter simply because they were immersed into the British landscape and lifestyle; empiricism was instrumental to the success, and having Alnwick Castle as our home for 16 weeks confirmed the importance of history itself.

Biographical Statement:

Julie Baugnet teaches art and design at St. Cloud State University. She is an accomplished painter, book artist, and graphic designer. Her main goal in life is to teach others a new way of seeing and to help students understand what they see and how to decipher the plethora of visual information in our daily lives.