This article considers drama/theater education as a form of constructivism where popular culture is both accessed and employed to engage young people and animate education. Using the familiar cultural trope of zombies, and in reference to three separate performance projects, attention is drawn to why projects such as these matter and why they…

In this paper we suggest that narrative representations that seemingly fail to reach an audience as intended may engage the audience in more meaningful ways. We use reader response theory to explore how an audience's responses to a conference narrative presentation made available a multiplicity of interpretive frameworks and narratives to the…

Many challenges currently face art educators who aim to address aspects of popular visual culture in the art classroom. This article analyzes the relationship between performance art and the MTV program "Jackass," one example of problematic popular visual culture. Issues of gender representation and violence within the context of Reality TV and…

Images can be and have been used in various ways, and by their man-made nature they cannot be considered independent of their providers' intentions. Yet, identifying such intentions is complex, and requires a critical look supported by relevant information on what is being represented, how, and why. In this article, the author illustrates some of…

This article features the life of Robert "Cyclona" Legorreta and his Fire of Life/El Fuego de la Vida Collection. In this article, the author critically deploys "homosexual" not only to capture Legorreta's self-identification but also to argue for the importance of "situated knowledges" about same-sex desire in relation to art, political action,…

This article argues that justifications for art and culture recently have changed from one of basic freedom of expression and communication of an inner vision ("art for art's sake"), to one of utilitarianism and entrepreneurialism. On a very basic level, theatre in school settings works with young people inside the context of a community…

Addresses the common confusion about the nature and use of intellect in the arts. Attempts to demonstrate the forces that promote and reinforce this confusion in relation to the nature and use of intellect in the arts. (CMK)

Identifies current trends that are moving society away from supporting an improved role for the arts in education. Discusses the blurring of the demarcation between popular culture and high art, the economic context in which students are trained for work, taxpayer pressure for efficiency, and deemphasis on live art. (KO)