Arts in Higher Education
Content
Running head: THE ARTS IN HIGHER EDUCATION
The Role of the Arts in Higher Education: A Literature Review
Amy Weatherford
Loyola University of Chicago
1
THE ARTS IN HIGHER EDUCATION
The debate over the purpose of higher education is far from new, but it has been
2
brought to the forefront in this age of economic instability and rising tuition costs. Citing
concern over the return on investment of tuition dollars, many programs and courses within
higher education have come under the intense scrutiny of students, parents, and legislators.
Among those programs, perhaps even top of the list, are the fine arts. There are many people in
the arts who staunchly believe that the arts have such intrinsic value that their worth should not
be measured based on how they enhance other disciplines, however, it is important to their
survival and growth in higher education that we do so. To that end, relevant literature will be
reviewed to examine the value of the fine arts in higher education.
The Need for Justification
Many programs within colleges and universities, including the arts, are increasingly
pressured to validate themselves through standardized evaluations (Johnson, 2002). Teachers
and institutions are asked to track grades, test scores, attendance, and to articulate the benefits
and outcomes of all programs, to make everything quantifiable. In what is perhaps a misguided
quest to find the one yardstick by which to measure the worth of all programs, Senators Rubio
and Wyden recently put forth the “Student Right to Know Before You Go Act,” which, if passed,
would obligate colleges and universities to publish employment data, including annual salary
information of graduates, for each of their programs. Landing a high-paying job may the reason
some, even most, people go through post-secondary education (Morris, 2012), but does salary
information alone provide an accurate assessment of the value of an education? In his article,
David Oxtoby (2012), president of Pomona College, states that “if the standard of judgment is
the salaries of graduating majors, the arts will inevitably be marginalized on our campuses”
(Oxtoby, 2012, p.36). It is, of course, important to ensure students are equipped for their future
THE ARTS IN HIGHER EDUCATION
3
professional roles, “but exactly what the ‘equipment’ consists of remains unexplained” (Johnson,
2002, p.220). The challenge cited in many of the articles reviewed is that although student
interest in, and access to, opportunities for study in the arts has increased over the past few
decades (Warburton, 2006), their role in students’ personal and professional development is not
immediately evident, which makes achieving parity with other programs difficult (Dunn, 1996).
Does the lack of clarity in the outcomes of arts experiences make them dispensable? Or,
do they contribute “equally, if differently, to critical intelligence by developing one’s ability to
express, imagine, interact with, and reinterpret the world and human experience” (Oxtoby, 2012,
p. 38)? An example of the payoff of arts education not being immediately evident was outlined
in Vasquez Heilig, Cole, and Aguilar’s (2010) article on the evolution and devolution of public
arts education when they shared an excerpt of Steve Job’s Stanford University commencement
address, in which he attributed the aesthetic design of Apple products to a calligraphy course he
took in college – a course that, at the time, and for many years later, served no practical purpose
in his life. This delayed connection between the arts and careers in other fields combined with
the intangibility of the knowledge and skills gained from arts courses makes the understanding
and articulation of the “disciplinary cohesion of programs in the arts and their interdisciplinary
value” (Oxtoby, 2012, p.36) all the more crucial.
Benefits of Arts Education
In the articles reviewed, five common themes emerged regarding the benefits of the arts
in higher education. These themes, which we will unpack, are the impact on society, pushing
boundaries and making connections, experiential education, thinking creatively, and developing
cultural competence.
Impact on Society
THE ARTS IN HIGHER EDUCATION
4
The arts are essential to how we know ourselves – how we know ourselves as individuals,
and as a society, and how we know others (Morris, 2012). We know the ancient Greeks for their
scientific advancements, to be sure, but we know who they were by their literature, architecture,
dramas, and music. From the Lascaux cave paintings to Myan temples to Gangnam Style, our
humanity and our culture are revealed and experienced through the arts. Colleges and
universities are critical cultural hubs in both the country and throughout the world (Warburton,
2006). In fact, “colleges and universities are among the few places where creative talent is
supported and where the creation of art can be promoted for its own sake, regardless of
immediate commercial value” (Oxtoby, 2012, p.40).
As centers of both culture and academics, colleges and universities provide the ideal
setting for engagement in the arts (Morris, 2012). Due to the elimination of the arts from many
K-12 schools for fiscal reasons, higher education may be the first opportunity for some students
to participate in the arts. Providing these students with an arts-rich environment and a myriad of
opportunities for actively participating in the arts will help the arts flourish in society, for “the
college years present a critical window of opportunity to foster social and cultural responsibility”
(Oxtoby, 2012, p. 40)
Pushing Boundaries, Making Connections
In their study evaluating the outcomes of an integrated science and art course, Hollenbeck
and Reiter (2005) observed that prior to taking the course, many of the students in the class
considered the sciences and the arts as belonging to separate intellectual spheres, but that
throughout the semester they were able to make meaningful connections that helped them
develop an understanding of the overlap and interconnectedness between the two fields. The
authors also note that the students found the connections to the arts to be stimulating and a
THE ARTS IN HIGHER EDUCATION
welcome challenge. Teachers are key to helping students make these connections, as there is
5
evidence to suggest that information or skills developed in one context only transfer with the
help of a guide (Moga et al, 2000).
The different type of learning and evaluation provided by the arts is helpful in the
development of new skills for students who are already familiar and comfortable, sometimes
overly so, with the curriculum and assessment found throughout most of K-12 and higher
education (Oxtoby, 2012). This growth requires pushing students out of their comfort zone, but
also requires a space where students feel safe enough to take these risks (Smyth & Stevenson,
2003). In addition to helping students engage their imagination to see subjects and the world
differently, the arts can also help students develop practical skills such as visual and aural
literacy, the ability to see and hear critically, and to be able to use those visual and listening skills
to understand and interpret information (Oxtoby, 2012). Studies have also linked the arts to the
development of spatial-temporal reasoning and literacy skills, among others, though despite the
massive “Mozart Effect” movement that was spawned from the Rauscher, Shaw, and Ky (1995)
study, the evidence in most studies has not provided conclusive evidence of a relationship
between the arts and the development of these skills. The work of Howard Garner on multiple
intelligences has been among the most effective in justifying the importance of using the
different methods of teaching and assessment the arts provide (Spearman, 2000). Lack of
conclusive evidence for specific skills notwithstanding, providing students with an opportunity to
“interact and challenge ideology through artistic work” (Oxtoby, 2012, p.36) does aid in the
deepening of students’ understanding of the connections that exist between academic fields.
Experiential Learning
THE ARTS IN HIGHER EDUCATION
Bridging the gap from the theoretical to the applied is essential in education, and “arts
6
programs provide opportunities to distill and process experience at every level, both through
artmaking itself and continual feedback sessions as a piece is shaped and formed” (Smyth &
Stevenson, 2003, p.13). Multiple authors discussed the need for arts experiences to be active, not
passive, to counteract the philosophy that “art in higher education should emphasize the
appreciation of art rather than the experience of art” (Burgart, 1961, p.14) that is prevalent in
many course curricula. Students should be encouraged to create and perform, not just to analyze
the creations and performances of others.
Oxtoby (2012) likened the experience of performing to going from a chemistry lecture to a
lab. In the lecture hall, theories can be wrapped up with a bow, but in the lab it is different.
Sometimes things go wrong, sometimes results are inconclusive, or hard to interpret, and
sometimes the stars align and everything falls into place. It’s a messy process, and so is
performing and creating art. It is through this doing, through the experience of creating, that
students get “a practical understanding of the creative process that cannot help but inform both
the professional and amateur understanding of the arts for students in college and throughout
their lives” (Oxtoby, 2012, p.40).
Creating and performing have the added benefit of providing additional motivation for
producing work through connection to the greater community (Smyth & Stevenson, 2003). Most
assignments are done for a grade, for an audience of one, the teacher, or perhaps the class. If a
grade is the only reward, the only purpose of doing the assignment, that might not give students
the motivation to put forth their best work. The arts, however involve the larger community.
“When students have a real audience they are preparing their art for, they create a self-imposed
THE ARTS IN HIGHER EDUCATION
set of high standards. They demand a high level of quality from each other” (Smyth &
7
Stevenson, 2003, p.21).
Engaging in the Creative Process
Creativity and innovation are central to the goals of the twenty-first century economy. The
“view that studying the arts makes people more creative and imaginative is part of our folklore,”
(Moga et al, 2000, p.91), and indeed, the arts do nurture the development of creativity through
open-ended inquiry. The Moga et al (2000) article references psychologist David Perkins, who
maintains that although any subject can be used for the purpose, the arts are especially effective
at fostering thinking skills, because they “provide a sensory anchor…they are instantly
accessible…they engage us and sustain our attention, and they encourage rich connections
(Moga et al, 2000, p.91).
Smyth and Stevenson (2003) recommended thinking of students as artists rather than
workers, to encourage creation rather than production. This creation “is about possibility,
imagination, a grand open-endedness (Smyth & Stevenson, 2003, p.21). The authors discuss
Paulo Friere’s use of the term “rupture”, the separation from the old and the advent of the new, in
education, saying, “when students bring their lived worlds to a text in a rich arts environment,
the artistic work they produce has the power to surprise us with the shock of the new” (Smyth
and Stevenson, 2003, p.21).
In their review of studies done linking arts education to creativity, Moga et al (2000) found
that, like in so many other areas, results varied depending on experimental design and method of
measurement. Through creating, students develop capacities that will benefit them far beyond
graduation, so higher education should cultivate those capacities to help create citizens and
leaders (Oxtoby, 2012). Creativity is at the heart of education and of the arts. Real education
THE ARTS IN HIGHER EDUCATION
8
“depends on the cultivation of our imagination so that facts have an aesthetic significance and so
that we constantly see new possibilities” (Burgart, 1961, p.16).
Cultural Competence
Cultural competence is among the most important skills for people entering the global
economy and for the development of a more just society. Because the arts are significant in the
development of our individual and collective identities, it is logical to conclude that they are also
a vehicle for learning about and understanding other cultures (Morris, 2012). Dialogue is a
natural extension of performing, furthering the development of social skills and competencies
(Smyth & Stevenson, 2003, Ruppert, 2006). In their report on the arts, community, and learning,
Smyth and Stevenson (2003) assert that “in effective communities, cultural interchange is an
asset, not a social divider. The process of artmaking uncovers cultural differences and celebrates
the richness of their resources where traditional learning environments often try to cover them
up.” (Smyth and Stevenson, 2003, p.13).
Because the arts make it possible for students to bring their lived worlds into the educational
dialogue in new ways, the dialogue has the potential to resonate more deeply, thereby effecting
greater change and understanding. This sharing of lived experiences through the arts is
especially important for marginalized populations. Spearman (2000) notes that “as arts
education itself has struggled for greater recognition, underrepresented people (minorities) have
also been struggling for recognition and acceptance as participants” (Spearman, 2000, p.10). It is
essential that we capitalize on the opportunity afforded us in higher education to validate the
artistic merit of both individuals and cultures, for “when people sense, then learn, that their
cultural values are recognized, when society adopts and respects their arts, they feel anxious to
help in the dissemination and educational process” (Spearman, 2000, p.9). In his article,
THE ARTS IN HIGHER EDUCATION
O’Fallon (1995) argued that we should “not exclude the role the arts can play in addressing the
9
human spirit in America's inner cities and rural communities...It's not about art. It's about the
affirmation of dignity and worth to our people” (O'Fallon, 1995, p.25)
In addition to fostering a deeper understanding of and connection to our own selves and
culture, arts education also plays a role in our understanding of, acceptance of, and appreciation
for cultures other than our own (Dunn, 1996). This cultural competence, achieved through
“teaching creativity, in understanding multiple cultures, in embracing diversity, in thinking
globally, and in shaping one’s identity across the lifespan” (Morris, 2012, p.348) is important not
just as a marketable asset in an increasingly global economy, but also because of the opportunity
it present to effect positive social change. In this way, arts education is not only a valuable tool
for the development of cultural competence among students in higher education, but it also “has
a vital role to play in the drama of American life and in efforts to achieve cultural democracy”
(Spearman, 2000, p.9).
Implications and Further Inquiry
If arts education programs are to flourish in higher education, the “the art education
philosophy employed in the higher education curriculum must, by the very nature of its
inclusion, reflect the aims of higher education” (Burgart, 1961, p.16). By the same token,
Oxtoby (2012) emphasizes that “if fostering creativity is a goal of liberal education, we should
ask whether our institutional cultures and structures support that goal (Oxtoby, 2012, p.38). So,
it is imperative to the effective integration of the arts that we examine the objectives and values
of both the arts programs and institutions in which they are housed to be certain they are
congruent.
THE ARTS IN HIGHER EDUCATION
10
Although a fair amount of research has been done on the arts in K-12 education, there is
very little research that focuses on the arts in higher education (Coswell, 1995). Coswell (1995)
notes a lack of a shared long-long term vision for arts education, saying:
The prevailing philosophy of (arts educators) is based on the values of aesthetic
education, that is, on recognizing, understanding, and responding appropriately to the art
object. The extent to which aesthetic education is essential to various philosophies of
education has not been explored. (p. 4)
The lack of substantial hard data connecting the arts to student achievement is acknowledged by
many in the arts education community, but in her report, “Critical Evidence: How the Arts
Benefit Student Achievement,” Ruppert (2006) declares:
Research doesn’t hold all the answers to why the arts are important, but it does confirm
what most people already know to be true in their hearts and minds: the arts make a
significant contribution to helping all students achieve success in school, work, and life.
(p.17)
Fine arts advocates may be satisfied by the findings of the existing studies, but it is not fine arts
advocates that need to be convinced of the value of the arts in higher education. Further research
is crucial the promotion of the arts in higher education, so that policymakers do not have to rely
on “unproved assumptions about educational transfer and how we know” (Coswell, 1996, p.2).
Additional challenges include the cost of educators and space necessary for the creation
of successful arts programs (Warburton, 2006). Integrating the arts into the liberal arts and
STEM curricula would require the creation of new teaching techniques and strategies, which
would have to involve training for faculty (Dunn, 1996). It also requires that faculty be willing
to branch out into this new territory. The arts are often seen as extra-curricular, and the fine arts
opportunities that exist outside the classroom are valuable to be sure, but the opportunities to
infuse the arts into the academic curriculum should not be overlooked. The articles provide few
concrete examples of how the arts can or should be experienced and available to students in
11
THE ARTS IN HIGHER EDUCATION
higher education. A few studies provided the framework for small-scale implementation of arts
programs, but most focused on the benefits of arts education in higher education in theory. It is
highly unlikely that any study is going to reveal a program or a strategy that would be
universally successful, but it would be interesting to see a study that looked at the arts throughout
a program or institution. In his article, Oxtoby (2012) states that “fulling integrating the arts
into the student experience and into the visions of a liberal arts education will require new
thinking, bold conversations, and creative action” (Oxtoby, 2012, p.41).
Conclusion
We have a tremendous opportunity in higher education to guide students through new
territories, to help them come to new ways of knowing themselves and the world. The arts are a
useful, but underutilized tool for this type of internal and external exploration. By providing
opportunities for arts-rich experiences, and moving the arts from the margins to the center of the
educational experience, colleges and universities can shape a new generation of creative,
culturally competent college graduates in all disciplines.
12
THE ARTS IN HIGHER EDUCATION
References
Burgart, H. (1961). Art in Higher Education: The Relationship of Art Experience to Personality,
General Creativity, and Aesthetic Performance. Studies in Art Education, 2(2), p.14 – 35.
Colwell, R. (1995). Will Voluntary National Standards Fix the Potholes of Arts Education? Arts
Education Policy Review, 96(5), p. 2-11.
Dunn, P. (1995). Integrating the Arts: Renaissance and Reformation in Arts Education. Arts
Education Policy Review, 96(4), p.32-37.
Hollenbeck, J., & Reiter, W. (2005). Science and Art as One in a Liberal Arts Curriculum.
College Quarterly, 8(4), p. 1-5.
Johnson, C. (2002). The Position of the Fine Art Student in the Context of Public Accountability
of Higher Education, with Specific Reference to the Quality Assurance Agency
Experience. Teaching in Higher Education, 7(2), p. 215-224.
Moga, E., Burger, K., Hetland, L., & Winner, E. (2000). Does Studying the Arts Engender
Creative Thinking? Evidence for Near but Not Far Transfer. Journal of Aesthetic
Education, 34(3/4), p. 91 – 104.
Morris, L. (2012). Connecting Students and Academics Through the Arts. Innovative Higher
Education, 37, p. 347-348.
O’Fallon, D. (1995). Choices at the Intersection of the Arts and Education. Arts Education
Policy Review, 96(3), p.21-27.
Oxtoby, D. (2012). The Place of the Arts. Liberal Education, p. 36-41.
Rauscher, F.H., Shaw, G.L., and Ky, K.N. (1995). Listening to Mozart enhances spatialTemporal reasoning: towards a neurophysiological basis. Neurosci Lett, 185(1),
THE ARTS IN HIGHER EDUCATION
13
p. 44-47
Ruppert, S. (2006). Critical Evidence: How the ARTS Benefit Student Achievement. National
Assembly of State Arts Agencies, p.1-20.
Smyth, L., & Stevenson, L. (2003). You Want to be a Part of Everything: The Arts, Community,
and Learning. Forum of the Arts Education Partnership, New York.
Spearman, C. (2000). Arts Education: Searching Its Own Soul. Arts Education Policy Review,
101(3), p. 9-10.
Vasquez Heilig, J., Cole, H., & Aguilar, A. (2010). From Dewey to No Child Left Behind: The
Evolution and Devolution of Public Arts Education. Arts Education Policy Review,
111(1), p.136-145.
Warburton, E. Access to Arts Beyond High School: Issues of Demand and Availability in
American Higher Education. Arts Education Policy Review, 107(6), p.11 – 16.
The Role of the Arts in Higher Education: A Literature Review
Amy Weatherford
Loyola University of Chicago
1
THE ARTS IN HIGHER EDUCATION
The debate over the purpose of higher education is far from new, but it has been
2
brought to the forefront in this age of economic instability and rising tuition costs. Citing
concern over the return on investment of tuition dollars, many programs and courses within
higher education have come under the intense scrutiny of students, parents, and legislators.
Among those programs, perhaps even top of the list, are the fine arts. There are many people in
the arts who staunchly believe that the arts have such intrinsic value that their worth should not
be measured based on how they enhance other disciplines, however, it is important to their
survival and growth in higher education that we do so. To that end, relevant literature will be
reviewed to examine the value of the fine arts in higher education.
The Need for Justification
Many programs within colleges and universities, including the arts, are increasingly
pressured to validate themselves through standardized evaluations (Johnson, 2002). Teachers
and institutions are asked to track grades, test scores, attendance, and to articulate the benefits
and outcomes of all programs, to make everything quantifiable. In what is perhaps a misguided
quest to find the one yardstick by which to measure the worth of all programs, Senators Rubio
and Wyden recently put forth the “Student Right to Know Before You Go Act,” which, if passed,
would obligate colleges and universities to publish employment data, including annual salary
information of graduates, for each of their programs. Landing a high-paying job may the reason
some, even most, people go through post-secondary education (Morris, 2012), but does salary
information alone provide an accurate assessment of the value of an education? In his article,
David Oxtoby (2012), president of Pomona College, states that “if the standard of judgment is
the salaries of graduating majors, the arts will inevitably be marginalized on our campuses”
(Oxtoby, 2012, p.36). It is, of course, important to ensure students are equipped for their future
THE ARTS IN HIGHER EDUCATION
3
professional roles, “but exactly what the ‘equipment’ consists of remains unexplained” (Johnson,
2002, p.220). The challenge cited in many of the articles reviewed is that although student
interest in, and access to, opportunities for study in the arts has increased over the past few
decades (Warburton, 2006), their role in students’ personal and professional development is not
immediately evident, which makes achieving parity with other programs difficult (Dunn, 1996).
Does the lack of clarity in the outcomes of arts experiences make them dispensable? Or,
do they contribute “equally, if differently, to critical intelligence by developing one’s ability to
express, imagine, interact with, and reinterpret the world and human experience” (Oxtoby, 2012,
p. 38)? An example of the payoff of arts education not being immediately evident was outlined
in Vasquez Heilig, Cole, and Aguilar’s (2010) article on the evolution and devolution of public
arts education when they shared an excerpt of Steve Job’s Stanford University commencement
address, in which he attributed the aesthetic design of Apple products to a calligraphy course he
took in college – a course that, at the time, and for many years later, served no practical purpose
in his life. This delayed connection between the arts and careers in other fields combined with
the intangibility of the knowledge and skills gained from arts courses makes the understanding
and articulation of the “disciplinary cohesion of programs in the arts and their interdisciplinary
value” (Oxtoby, 2012, p.36) all the more crucial.
Benefits of Arts Education
In the articles reviewed, five common themes emerged regarding the benefits of the arts
in higher education. These themes, which we will unpack, are the impact on society, pushing
boundaries and making connections, experiential education, thinking creatively, and developing
cultural competence.
Impact on Society
THE ARTS IN HIGHER EDUCATION
4
The arts are essential to how we know ourselves – how we know ourselves as individuals,
and as a society, and how we know others (Morris, 2012). We know the ancient Greeks for their
scientific advancements, to be sure, but we know who they were by their literature, architecture,
dramas, and music. From the Lascaux cave paintings to Myan temples to Gangnam Style, our
humanity and our culture are revealed and experienced through the arts. Colleges and
universities are critical cultural hubs in both the country and throughout the world (Warburton,
2006). In fact, “colleges and universities are among the few places where creative talent is
supported and where the creation of art can be promoted for its own sake, regardless of
immediate commercial value” (Oxtoby, 2012, p.40).
As centers of both culture and academics, colleges and universities provide the ideal
setting for engagement in the arts (Morris, 2012). Due to the elimination of the arts from many
K-12 schools for fiscal reasons, higher education may be the first opportunity for some students
to participate in the arts. Providing these students with an arts-rich environment and a myriad of
opportunities for actively participating in the arts will help the arts flourish in society, for “the
college years present a critical window of opportunity to foster social and cultural responsibility”
(Oxtoby, 2012, p. 40)
Pushing Boundaries, Making Connections
In their study evaluating the outcomes of an integrated science and art course, Hollenbeck
and Reiter (2005) observed that prior to taking the course, many of the students in the class
considered the sciences and the arts as belonging to separate intellectual spheres, but that
throughout the semester they were able to make meaningful connections that helped them
develop an understanding of the overlap and interconnectedness between the two fields. The
authors also note that the students found the connections to the arts to be stimulating and a
THE ARTS IN HIGHER EDUCATION
welcome challenge. Teachers are key to helping students make these connections, as there is
5
evidence to suggest that information or skills developed in one context only transfer with the
help of a guide (Moga et al, 2000).
The different type of learning and evaluation provided by the arts is helpful in the
development of new skills for students who are already familiar and comfortable, sometimes
overly so, with the curriculum and assessment found throughout most of K-12 and higher
education (Oxtoby, 2012). This growth requires pushing students out of their comfort zone, but
also requires a space where students feel safe enough to take these risks (Smyth & Stevenson,
2003). In addition to helping students engage their imagination to see subjects and the world
differently, the arts can also help students develop practical skills such as visual and aural
literacy, the ability to see and hear critically, and to be able to use those visual and listening skills
to understand and interpret information (Oxtoby, 2012). Studies have also linked the arts to the
development of spatial-temporal reasoning and literacy skills, among others, though despite the
massive “Mozart Effect” movement that was spawned from the Rauscher, Shaw, and Ky (1995)
study, the evidence in most studies has not provided conclusive evidence of a relationship
between the arts and the development of these skills. The work of Howard Garner on multiple
intelligences has been among the most effective in justifying the importance of using the
different methods of teaching and assessment the arts provide (Spearman, 2000). Lack of
conclusive evidence for specific skills notwithstanding, providing students with an opportunity to
“interact and challenge ideology through artistic work” (Oxtoby, 2012, p.36) does aid in the
deepening of students’ understanding of the connections that exist between academic fields.
Experiential Learning
THE ARTS IN HIGHER EDUCATION
Bridging the gap from the theoretical to the applied is essential in education, and “arts
6
programs provide opportunities to distill and process experience at every level, both through
artmaking itself and continual feedback sessions as a piece is shaped and formed” (Smyth &
Stevenson, 2003, p.13). Multiple authors discussed the need for arts experiences to be active, not
passive, to counteract the philosophy that “art in higher education should emphasize the
appreciation of art rather than the experience of art” (Burgart, 1961, p.14) that is prevalent in
many course curricula. Students should be encouraged to create and perform, not just to analyze
the creations and performances of others.
Oxtoby (2012) likened the experience of performing to going from a chemistry lecture to a
lab. In the lecture hall, theories can be wrapped up with a bow, but in the lab it is different.
Sometimes things go wrong, sometimes results are inconclusive, or hard to interpret, and
sometimes the stars align and everything falls into place. It’s a messy process, and so is
performing and creating art. It is through this doing, through the experience of creating, that
students get “a practical understanding of the creative process that cannot help but inform both
the professional and amateur understanding of the arts for students in college and throughout
their lives” (Oxtoby, 2012, p.40).
Creating and performing have the added benefit of providing additional motivation for
producing work through connection to the greater community (Smyth & Stevenson, 2003). Most
assignments are done for a grade, for an audience of one, the teacher, or perhaps the class. If a
grade is the only reward, the only purpose of doing the assignment, that might not give students
the motivation to put forth their best work. The arts, however involve the larger community.
“When students have a real audience they are preparing their art for, they create a self-imposed
THE ARTS IN HIGHER EDUCATION
set of high standards. They demand a high level of quality from each other” (Smyth &
7
Stevenson, 2003, p.21).
Engaging in the Creative Process
Creativity and innovation are central to the goals of the twenty-first century economy. The
“view that studying the arts makes people more creative and imaginative is part of our folklore,”
(Moga et al, 2000, p.91), and indeed, the arts do nurture the development of creativity through
open-ended inquiry. The Moga et al (2000) article references psychologist David Perkins, who
maintains that although any subject can be used for the purpose, the arts are especially effective
at fostering thinking skills, because they “provide a sensory anchor…they are instantly
accessible…they engage us and sustain our attention, and they encourage rich connections
(Moga et al, 2000, p.91).
Smyth and Stevenson (2003) recommended thinking of students as artists rather than
workers, to encourage creation rather than production. This creation “is about possibility,
imagination, a grand open-endedness (Smyth & Stevenson, 2003, p.21). The authors discuss
Paulo Friere’s use of the term “rupture”, the separation from the old and the advent of the new, in
education, saying, “when students bring their lived worlds to a text in a rich arts environment,
the artistic work they produce has the power to surprise us with the shock of the new” (Smyth
and Stevenson, 2003, p.21).
In their review of studies done linking arts education to creativity, Moga et al (2000) found
that, like in so many other areas, results varied depending on experimental design and method of
measurement. Through creating, students develop capacities that will benefit them far beyond
graduation, so higher education should cultivate those capacities to help create citizens and
leaders (Oxtoby, 2012). Creativity is at the heart of education and of the arts. Real education
THE ARTS IN HIGHER EDUCATION
8
“depends on the cultivation of our imagination so that facts have an aesthetic significance and so
that we constantly see new possibilities” (Burgart, 1961, p.16).
Cultural Competence
Cultural competence is among the most important skills for people entering the global
economy and for the development of a more just society. Because the arts are significant in the
development of our individual and collective identities, it is logical to conclude that they are also
a vehicle for learning about and understanding other cultures (Morris, 2012). Dialogue is a
natural extension of performing, furthering the development of social skills and competencies
(Smyth & Stevenson, 2003, Ruppert, 2006). In their report on the arts, community, and learning,
Smyth and Stevenson (2003) assert that “in effective communities, cultural interchange is an
asset, not a social divider. The process of artmaking uncovers cultural differences and celebrates
the richness of their resources where traditional learning environments often try to cover them
up.” (Smyth and Stevenson, 2003, p.13).
Because the arts make it possible for students to bring their lived worlds into the educational
dialogue in new ways, the dialogue has the potential to resonate more deeply, thereby effecting
greater change and understanding. This sharing of lived experiences through the arts is
especially important for marginalized populations. Spearman (2000) notes that “as arts
education itself has struggled for greater recognition, underrepresented people (minorities) have
also been struggling for recognition and acceptance as participants” (Spearman, 2000, p.10). It is
essential that we capitalize on the opportunity afforded us in higher education to validate the
artistic merit of both individuals and cultures, for “when people sense, then learn, that their
cultural values are recognized, when society adopts and respects their arts, they feel anxious to
help in the dissemination and educational process” (Spearman, 2000, p.9). In his article,
THE ARTS IN HIGHER EDUCATION
O’Fallon (1995) argued that we should “not exclude the role the arts can play in addressing the
9
human spirit in America's inner cities and rural communities...It's not about art. It's about the
affirmation of dignity and worth to our people” (O'Fallon, 1995, p.25)
In addition to fostering a deeper understanding of and connection to our own selves and
culture, arts education also plays a role in our understanding of, acceptance of, and appreciation
for cultures other than our own (Dunn, 1996). This cultural competence, achieved through
“teaching creativity, in understanding multiple cultures, in embracing diversity, in thinking
globally, and in shaping one’s identity across the lifespan” (Morris, 2012, p.348) is important not
just as a marketable asset in an increasingly global economy, but also because of the opportunity
it present to effect positive social change. In this way, arts education is not only a valuable tool
for the development of cultural competence among students in higher education, but it also “has
a vital role to play in the drama of American life and in efforts to achieve cultural democracy”
(Spearman, 2000, p.9).
Implications and Further Inquiry
If arts education programs are to flourish in higher education, the “the art education
philosophy employed in the higher education curriculum must, by the very nature of its
inclusion, reflect the aims of higher education” (Burgart, 1961, p.16). By the same token,
Oxtoby (2012) emphasizes that “if fostering creativity is a goal of liberal education, we should
ask whether our institutional cultures and structures support that goal (Oxtoby, 2012, p.38). So,
it is imperative to the effective integration of the arts that we examine the objectives and values
of both the arts programs and institutions in which they are housed to be certain they are
congruent.
THE ARTS IN HIGHER EDUCATION
10
Although a fair amount of research has been done on the arts in K-12 education, there is
very little research that focuses on the arts in higher education (Coswell, 1995). Coswell (1995)
notes a lack of a shared long-long term vision for arts education, saying:
The prevailing philosophy of (arts educators) is based on the values of aesthetic
education, that is, on recognizing, understanding, and responding appropriately to the art
object. The extent to which aesthetic education is essential to various philosophies of
education has not been explored. (p. 4)
The lack of substantial hard data connecting the arts to student achievement is acknowledged by
many in the arts education community, but in her report, “Critical Evidence: How the Arts
Benefit Student Achievement,” Ruppert (2006) declares:
Research doesn’t hold all the answers to why the arts are important, but it does confirm
what most people already know to be true in their hearts and minds: the arts make a
significant contribution to helping all students achieve success in school, work, and life.
(p.17)
Fine arts advocates may be satisfied by the findings of the existing studies, but it is not fine arts
advocates that need to be convinced of the value of the arts in higher education. Further research
is crucial the promotion of the arts in higher education, so that policymakers do not have to rely
on “unproved assumptions about educational transfer and how we know” (Coswell, 1996, p.2).
Additional challenges include the cost of educators and space necessary for the creation
of successful arts programs (Warburton, 2006). Integrating the arts into the liberal arts and
STEM curricula would require the creation of new teaching techniques and strategies, which
would have to involve training for faculty (Dunn, 1996). It also requires that faculty be willing
to branch out into this new territory. The arts are often seen as extra-curricular, and the fine arts
opportunities that exist outside the classroom are valuable to be sure, but the opportunities to
infuse the arts into the academic curriculum should not be overlooked. The articles provide few
concrete examples of how the arts can or should be experienced and available to students in
11
THE ARTS IN HIGHER EDUCATION
higher education. A few studies provided the framework for small-scale implementation of arts
programs, but most focused on the benefits of arts education in higher education in theory. It is
highly unlikely that any study is going to reveal a program or a strategy that would be
universally successful, but it would be interesting to see a study that looked at the arts throughout
a program or institution. In his article, Oxtoby (2012) states that “fulling integrating the arts
into the student experience and into the visions of a liberal arts education will require new
thinking, bold conversations, and creative action” (Oxtoby, 2012, p.41).
Conclusion
We have a tremendous opportunity in higher education to guide students through new
territories, to help them come to new ways of knowing themselves and the world. The arts are a
useful, but underutilized tool for this type of internal and external exploration. By providing
opportunities for arts-rich experiences, and moving the arts from the margins to the center of the
educational experience, colleges and universities can shape a new generation of creative,
culturally competent college graduates in all disciplines.
12
THE ARTS IN HIGHER EDUCATION
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