What does A stand for in STEAM?
The ArtSci Salon presents:
What does A stand for in STEAM?
Date: December 1, 2017
Time: 5:30-7:30 pm
Location: The Fields Institute for Research in Mathematical Sciences
222 College Street, Toronto, ON
Please, RSVP here
Grouping four broadly defined disciplinary clusters –– Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics –– STEM has come to stand for governments’ and institutions’ attempt to champion ambitious programs geared towards excellence and innovation while providing hopeful students with “useful” education leading to “real jobs”. But in recent years education advocates have reiterated the crucial role of the arts in achieving such excellence. A has been added to STEM…
But what does A stand for in STEAM? What is its role? and how is it interpreted by those involved in STEM education, by arts practitioners and educators and by science communicators? It turns out that A has different roles, meanings, applications, interpretations…
Please, join us for an intriguing discussion on STEAM education and STEAM approaches. Our guests represent different experiences, backgrounds and areas of research. Your participation will make their contributions even richer
With:
Linda Duvall (Visual and Media Artist)
Richard Lachman (Associate Professor, RTA School of Media, Ryerson University)
Jan McMillin (Teacher/Librarian, Queen Victoria P.S.)
Jenn Stroud Rossmann (Professor, Mechanical Engineering - Lafayette College)
Lauren Williams (Special Collections Librarian - Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library
Bios
Linda Duvall is a Canadian interdisciplinary artist who presents within gallery contexts, on the web, and within public and private spaces. Her work exists at the intersection of collaboration, intimate performances and research-in-action. She has been identified as a ‘rebel sociologist’ by curator Kim Simon for her emphasis on discourse rather than empirical outcome. Duvall has completed degrees in Sociology and English at Carleton University in Ottawa, in Education at Queens University, Kingston, and in Visual Arts at OCAD University, Toronto, University of Michigan, Anne Arbor Michigan, and Transart Institute through Plymouth University, UK. She has taught for many years at University of Saskatchewan, and is currently a Professional Affiliate there. Her work has been extensively presented, including exhibitions in Guatemala, London, Barcelona, Slovenia, Shanghai, Berlin, and across Canada.
Richard Lachman directs the Zone Learning network of incubators for Ryerson University, Research Development for the Faculty of Communication and Design, and the Experiential Media Institute. His research interests include transmedia storytelling, digital documentaries, augmented/locative/VR experiences, mixed realities, and collaborative design thinking.
Jan McMillin is a Teacher Librarian at the TDSB. Over the last 3 years she has led a team to organize a S.T.E.A.M. Conference for approximately 180 Intermediate students from Queen Victoria P.S. and Parkdale Public. The purpose of the conference is to inspire these young people and to show them what they can also aspire to. Queen Victoria has a history of promoting the Arts in Education and so the conference was also partly to expand the notion of STEM to incorporate the Arts and creativity
Jenn Stroud Rossmann is a professor of mechanical engineering at Lafayette College. Her research interests include cardiovascular and respiratory fluid mechanics and interdiscplinary pedagogies. She co-authored an innovative textbook, Introduction to Engineering Mechanics: A Continuum Approach (CRC Press, Second Edition, 2015), and writes the essay series “An Engineer Reads a Novel” for Public Books. She is also a fiction writer whose work (in such journals as Cheap Pop, Literary Orphans, Tahoma Literary Review) has earned several Pushcart Prize nominations and other honors; her first novel is forthcoming in Fall 2018 from 7.13 Books.
Lauren Williams is a special collections librarian at the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library. Her background is in the history of printing and bookbinding; she also volunteers at the Massey College print shop, where she performs letterpress printing demonstrations for visiting students and scholars. In recent years, she has become increasingly interested in exploring the history of science and medicine, and the ways in which historical materials can inform the modern study and practice of science and medicine.