|
Forward
Thoughts
from Rob Roy Kelly
These papers were written over a period of more than twenty
years. Many of the themes, and even exact phrases, were repeated
in several papers as they were put into new contexts at different
times. No attempt has been made to eliminate the redundancies
because each paper was intended to stand on its own. The papers
are a compilation and not a narrative divided into chapters.
The papers related to pedagogy were intended to be a form
of mentoring for young teachers. It took me many years to
assimilate my own education, and to reach an understanding
that made my teaching more effective. I felt very fortunate
that I had contact with people such as Albers and Hofmann,
who exemplified the finest exponents of visual pedagogy in
the last fifty years. I was privileged to be a student at
Yale University during a very exciting period of people and
program.
There
are many young teachers in the field today who have a sincere
desire to be good teachers, but they come from weak educational
backgrounds. They have neither the pedagogical experience
nor the models to help them in their own growth as teachers.
By conveying my experiences and attempting to verbalize what
I have learned, some teachers might find a better route to
effective teaching. I have focused on theoretical studies
which will never change regardless of how the definition,
practice, and technology in graphic design might evolve.
Papers
about the university should not be construed as adversarial.
They do reflect my concerns about how organization, operation,
relationship between faculty and administration, definition
of responsibility and policy, and how they impact faculty
members, students and educational quality. I have not encountered
any other design teachers who have researched, or expressed
interest in, the organizational aspect of education or its
history as a profession. My principal subject for general
research was the history of universities and the evolution
of academic organization and governance over several hundred
years with focus on post-secondary education after World War
II. I also investigated organizational psychology and found
the best sources in industrial psychology, because little
has been written about the effects on individuals of organizational
structure in education. Throughout the years, I kept reference
files of articles and papers in loose-leaf notebooks. I taught
at two independent art schools for approximately twenty years,
two private universities for seven years, and at three public
universities for eleven years. I was a Department Head. Institute
Professor, Senior Professor, faculty member, and most recently
Professor Emeritus/Faculty Associate. I served as a faculty
senator at Carnegie Mellon University and at Arizona State
University. I earned tenure at two institutions and the rank
of professor at three others. I was an educational consultant
at five or more different institutions and guest lecturer
at approximately thirty others. I have gleaned most of my
information from observation and from personal experience.
I
have done significant historical research, published a number
of articles, established three programs in Graphic Design,
been active in the community and professionally engaged.
|
