I believe that we live in a time where experience is being reduced to the information we receive that is transmitted to us from satellite dishes and the internet. It is amazing to have so much information so readily available for everyone to access worldwide. The reality for our students understanding the world around us is increasingly becoming a virtual one based on potentially biased or completely falsified information via the news, Google searching, and social media. Rather than meeting people and actually seeing the world in person, often students are meeting and chatting in virtual spaces or observing experiences on television shows. Much like a flattened television or computer screen, I feel that we may be flattening the quality of our education if we do not include a balance of "first-hand" living experience in our lives and get students actively involved in seeing and experiencing the world around them.

 

International Experiences and Possibilities:

As a Fulbright Scholar (Bolivia-Photography), I feel that it is extremely important to bring international experiences to my students. I am always happy to share my knowledge about Bolivia and other international cultures. For this reason I served on the Penn State Global Programs Strategic Planning Committee (GENS) where I was part of a 17 member Task Group for Penn State’s Latin America Global Engagement Node. A (GEN) is a multidimensional initiative involving international and Penn State partnership developed from existing Penn State connections through on-going faculty engagements and student exchange programs. These (GENS) are meant to concentrate energies and resources and help transform Penn State’s students, staff and faculty into global citizens, increase Penn State’s reputation and name recognition throughout the world and make Penn State a leading school in international education and global citizenship. Our committee was charged to examine and analyze Penn State’s present engagements in Latin America and offer concrete recommendations on the best way to focus future efforts in Latin America.

 

During my last 5 years at Penn State, I taught a summer session, Study Abroad INART ROME Program. At first this 6 credit, 6-week program taught photography and architectural history as well as exposed the students to other cultures, history, major Renaissance and Baroque artists and their artwork. During the summer of 2013, I was asked to recreate the Study Abroad INART ROME Program. It is presently Photographing Italian Culture with IES as a new provider. I taught both PHOTO 299 as well as PHOTO 499. A new second course INART 299, an Italian film course taught by Prof. Elisabetta Lodoli, was added. The film course had a 2-week component, which analyzed Italian Films. The remaining time was dedicated to film production where the students recreated a scene. I was responsible for leading all of the field expeditions in Rome as well as the week-long trip to Florence and Venice. These study abroad courses are enriching.

 

When I teach, no matter where, I try to get my students to look at the world that surrounds them and find their own stories photographing the people and places that make up their world. My goal for all of my classes is to move students from being passive recipients, towards becoming well-informed, active participants. I regard the "real world" as the ideal classroom environment that offers invaluable experiences. For this reason I am constantly striving to expand beyond the classroom and imbed my students in real world experiences weaving these experiences into my teaching. My advanced students are expected to enter into real world settings and situations, give oral presentations, do research and find and create their own stories. This hands-on approach encourages independent learning and is designed to expose students to unique photographic experiences. In PHOTO 410 (Sports Photo) students photograph a sporting event each week. They not only find the venues and make sure that they have the proper credentials to be able to photograph, they also photograph next to news/press organizations including photographers from ESPN and Sports Illustrated. This provides my students with firsthand experience of what it is like to work as a sports photographer. Through photographic field trips and personalized projects, my Photography and the Environment class, witnessed first-hand the impact that energy development has on our environment. Sustainability is a key theme that runs throughout this class. For this reason, my PHOTO 410 (Sports Photo), PHOTO 497A (Photography in the Environment), Independent Study, and the intensive 6-week PHOTO 299 and 499 (Study Abroad Rome) classes are often held on the sidelines of Beaver Stadium (right next to ABC, ESPN, and Sports Illustrated photographers), at a post-game press conference, near a Marcellus Shale drilling site, at a coal mine, in a village, in a museum, or next to the Pantheon.

 

I feel that it is important to be aware of what is happening to the environment around us, thus I often integrate my research into my courses. For example, I am presently a Co-PI of Storied Images: Marcellus Shale, a $18,800 Sustainability Institute Grant funded by all of the Vice Provosts at Penn State University. This Living Lab student-based photography project brought the classroom to world issues, fostering reflection, and generating discourse on the impact of PA Marcellus Shale gas extraction. It engages PSU faculty, industry, geologists, environmentalists, ethicists, and local citizens to enhance student learning on natural gas drilling and production through public forums, panels, films, and poetry readings. Student images are presently hung at 4 PSU galleries and in a local library and then will travel to the Penn State Branch Campuses. Additional talks, performances, film screenings, and panel discussions are planned for outreach at the Branch Campuses in conjunction with those student exhibitions. This project coincided with the Marcellus Shale Documentary Exhibition Project produced by 6 nationally and internationally known photographers that was on display at PSU’s Palmer Museum until Dec. 2014. Nine of my images were included in the Palmer Museum exhibition. My images illustrated pros and cons of shale gas extraction.

 

Before this project, I was a Co-Investigator and instructor for the Green Dorm Project. Introductory students were involved in sustainable renovation of East Halls at PSU. 14 faculty and staff integrated within 10 courses creating interdisciplinary collaboration and sustainable design. These faculty brought environmental issues to national awareness by creating and hosting an "End of/in the Beginning: Realizing the Sustainable Imagination", 2012 National Conference on the Beginning Design Student (NCBDS 2012). For these projects three grants (over $45,000) were received and I was a Co-PI. Throughout the year, my 3 sections of PHOTO 200 and PHOTO 497A students worked with beginning architecture, engineering and design students on an environmental awareness project. The Photo 200 classes were given a place assignment that dealt with sustainability and pollution.

 

My PHOTO 497A (Photography and the Environment) class photographed LEEDs certified buildings, and Penn State’s Living Filter Project. They created their own individual projects involving food and tree recycling. Other projects included the pros and cons of extracting energy resources such as; Marcellus Shale fracking, wind turbines, and acid mine drainage. We also explored coal strip mines, and went to the abandoned town of Centralia to see the devastation caused by a burning coal seam.

From the work generated, students created an Environmental Photo Sustainability website. http://kap545.wix.com/photo497a (See student images, and their class website). They selected, edited, and exhibited their work on-line, at the student union during Earth Day, and at the 28th National Conference on the Beginning Design Student (theme of Sustainability) held at Penn State, March 2012.

 

Teaching Experience:

As I stated in my introductory letter, I have 15 years of experience in teaching photography both at Penn State and at Metropolitan Community College in Omaha Nebraska. I love printing and am a master printer. I have taught some alternative process, but mainly my teaching has focused on traditional silver-halide darkroom techniques, digital imaging, color printing (chemical C-41 and E-6 processes), as well as fine art digital color and black and white printing, custom profiling as well as Professional Practices/ Portfolio Preparation courses.

For 4 and 1/2 years, I taught fine art traditional darkroom courses, silver processes in black and white, alternative processes, C-41, E-6, Ilfachrome, Cibachrome printing and processing in color. I also taught large format photography, the zone system and book design. For 3+ years, as an undergraduate in the mid 80’s, I worked as a Photography Lab Assistant. My responsibilities were to help run the darkroom and manage equipment check out and repair.

 

For the past 9 years I have been teaching strictly digital photography. I have 18 years of extensive training and professional shooting experience using digital photography. My digital training began with the first digital classes taught at Penn State. However, since digital photography is constantly evolving, active participation in continuing education is extremely important. I have taken three workshops from John Paul Caponigro including: (1) The Fine Art Digital Print, (2) Digital Portfolio, and (3) The Power of Color. In addition, I have participated in numerous seminars at Photo Plus Expo in New York City during: 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009. Prior to 2005, I taught traditional darkroom courses, silver processes in black and white, C-41, E-6, Ilfachrome, Cibachrome printing and processing in color. I also taught the zone system and book design.

 

In 2005, I was hired by Bill Kelly, the former head of the Integrative Arts Department at Penn State University, to teach digital photography beyond the arts, integrating photography with other disciplines throughout Penn State University, to help create the upper level courses of the new digital photography curriculum and teach digital photography exclusively. I was hired to help develop and teach new digital photography courses at Penn State. I helped to develop Penn State’s existing photography program. For this reason, I have 9 years of solid integrative digital photography teaching experience and 10 years of studio lighting teaching experience. I started teaching studio lighting courses at Metropolitan Community College, Omaha, NE and introduced studio lighting knowledge to Penn State in 2005. I created the beginning and advanced studio lighting courses at Penn State and taught them exclusively for five years. I continued teaching the basics of studio lighting as part of a section of PHOTO 200 until 2014.

 

Curriculum Development:

During my 9 years at Penn State, Keith Shapiro and I developed the Digital Photography program and I personally created the curriculum for and taught 10 courses all of which are still being offered today:

 

• 1. PHOTO 410 (Athletic-Sports Photography)

• 2. PHOTO 300 (Fine Art Printing Photography)

• 3. PHOTO 400 (Advanced Studio Lighting Photography)

• 4. PHOTO 200 Beginning Photography (Revised- when the curriculum was changed Photo 300 was dropped, Photo 400 (Lighting became PHOTO 300) and PHOTO 200 became a very intensive beginning level course teaching Exposure, Processing Printing and beginning lighting as well as image content and color theory　

• 5. PHOTO 497A (Photography and The Environment)

• 6. PHOTO 497 (Portfolio Preparation Course)

• 7. INART 299 (Beginning: Photographing Italian Culture in Rome Foreign Studies, (Rome) (in relation to an Architecture course))

• 8. INART 499 (Advanced: Photography Independent Projects Foreign Studies, (Rome) (in relation to an Architecture course))

• 9. PHOTO 299 (Beginning: Photographing Italian Culture in Rome Foreign Studies, (Rome) (Recreated with a new provider and in relation to a Film course))

• 10. PHOTO 499 (Advanced: Photographing Italian Culture in Rome Foreign Studies, (Rome) (Recreated with a new provider and in relation to a Film course))

 

International Teaching Experience/Study Abroad Program (7-10):

In 2010, I was presented with the opportunity to teach the Summer INART Rome program. At first this 6 credit, 6-week program taught photography and architectural history as well as exposed the students to other cultures, history, major Renaissance and Baroque artists and their artwork. These courses were taught mostly to non-art majors. This was a very eye-opening experience for me. First, I became acutely aware of how few of our students have traveled outside Pennsylvania, and of how little most students knew about anything non-US: politics, geography, history, famous artists. One student, a senior international business major, told me that I showed him all of his ninja turtles. Before my class, he sincerely equated Michelangelo, Leonardo, and Raphael with cartoon characters instead of artists. It was then that I realized how important this international experience was for the students and I made it a point to try to run the program every year. In the short six weeks, my students quickly transformed from being scared of the unknown and following me around like "ducklings", to feeling like an outsider looking in, to ultimately feeling as though they lived in Rome. I watched them grow and was excited to be able to help them in that maturing process. Similar experiences were observed when working with Penn State graduate and undergraduate students as part of the Hierakonpolis Temple-Town project in Egypt. These can be meaningful, life-changing experiences.

 

During the summer of 2013, I was asked to recreate the Study Abroad INART ROME Program, presently Photographing Italian Culture with IES as a new provider. During the summer of 2014, I taught both PHOTO 299 as well as PHOTO 499. A new second course INART 299, an Italian film course taught by Prof. Elisabetta Lodoli, was added. The film course had a 2-week component, which analyzed Italian Films. The remaining time was dedicated to film production, where the students recreated a scene. I was responsible for leading all of the field expeditions in Rome as well as the week-long trip to Florence and Venice.

 

Example Outcomes of My Teaching Methods, Student Advising and Mentoring Experience: (Just a few of the many examples)

My role as a mentor has had a direct impact in assisting students to secure exhibitions, scholarships, and professional internships. More importantly, I have directly supported my graduates as they continue their education in graduate school and/or successfully found jobs in photography. I love advising students and have the ability to help direct students to realize and define their dreams. Some of my students have gone to graduate schools like The Chicago Art Institute, Yale, and San Fransisco Art Institute. Others have gone to Brooks and RIT. Some are now professors, some have published books, others have found internships working for Interview and Vogue Magazine, and others found jobs working for ESPN, and the fashion Industry in New York City.

 

I mentored Betsy Yaros who applied and was accepted to four separate fine arts graduate schools, including Yale and the Chicago Art Institute. (Her choice was the Chicago Art Institute.) I worked with Joshua Cloud to assist him in successfully applying for graduate school. Josh is now a conceptual Photographer in California (https://www.flickr.com/photos/josh-cloud). I coached Melissa Walbridge who was awarded an NCAA scholarship for photography. I encouraged many students to enter a juried international photography exhibition in Novi Sad, Serbia. The following group of students’ images were accepted into that exhibition: (1) Joey Accardo, (2) Jamie Miller, (3) Caleb Selders, (4) Smanatha Shal and (5) Paulina Waksmundzki. I mentored Alexa Keeley who was offered a Production Assistant Trainee job for ESPN, and coached Shikeith Cathey-Butt Nieree who was offered a paid internship for Teen Vogue. (see student images.) Shikeith was part of #blackmendream (2014) an experimental documentary that creates a virtual "safe space" through hashtagging, enabling black males to pull apart emotional restrictions often denied through crossroads of race and gender. (45 minute film). Shikeith was recently was awarded the 2016 BRIC Media Arts Fellowship. Natalie Leonard, Art 495, Section 102 summer Internship (my PHOTO 200 student) completed an internship at Andy Warhol’s Interview Magazine in New York City, summer 2013. Natalie was accepted for another internship for Seventeen Magazine, Spring 2014, which she declined. She told me that she will have another internship opportunity in New York City this summer with Jonathan Wang. She also has the opportunity to intern with Vogue. I look forward to seeing where her journey takes her in the future. I am proud to say that she has accomplished this because of this summer Internship experience after only taking my section of PHOTO 200, Spring 2013. J. Ryan Ulsh, Photographer and Graphic Designer recently had an exhibition #1901 at the Frost Street Gallery in New York City. And Carrinne Knight is creating environmental awareness using her incredible panoramas and time lapse photography www.epicknight.com. Last fall Carinne flew back from California to State College to meet with me. We spent 3 days editing her portfolio and discussed graduate school possibilities. I just heard that she was accepted to go to graduate school at University of California - Santa Cruz.

 

My students often stay in touch with me. I was honored to be asked to be the officiant at a wedding in October 2015 for two of my students who met while taking my classes. Most recently on February 7th, Alexa Keeley, now a Three Time Visionary Award Winner, sent out a text saying “… it’s my 6 year ESPN anniversary today. I am one of a few editors that has been requested to edit the Super Bowl for Sports Center.” It touched my heart that on such a busy day (her first Super Bowl) Alexa took a few moments out to send that text, basically saying thank you, here’s a selfie - look, I made it!

 

I was honored and asked to be a Faculty Marshall at Penn State three times during the last ten years. In (2006 and 2007) I was honored to be the Integrative Arts Faculty Marshall, for Valerie Sanders and Tonya Yerty. In 2015 Luke Brezovec was saddened when he learned that I could not be his Faculty Marshall. Luke took my Art 496, Section 004 Independent Study, Photo 200, Photo 410, Environmental Photo and multiple 2011, 2012, and Spring 2013 Independent Studies. He is now studying in Cambridge, England. His book, designed and created under my guidance during his INART Independent Study in Germany, is currently in final proofing status, at the presses, and ready for publication.