Humanities and Fine Arts
Within the Division of Humanities and Fine Arts at Keuka College, the parameters for defining scholarship, research, and creative activity among faculty members must be drawn relatively broadly since we represent a collection of disciplines:
American Sign Language and ASL-English Interpreting
Art & Design and Visual Communication Design
English
Performing Arts (Theatre, Music, Dance)
Philosophy and Religion
Political Science and History
Spanish Language and Cross-Cultural Studies
Scholarship
Scholarship, research, and creative activity within the Division of Humanities and Fine Arts are framed within The Boyer Model (Scholarship Assessed: Evaluation of the Professoriate; Glassick, Huber, Maeroff, 1997), which is based on the Ernest L. Boyer Project of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.
To clarify this statement, a brief discussion of The Boyer Model is in order. The Boyer Model advances a definition of scholarship that includes four separate but complementary dimensions that have common examples among all programs in the Division:
1. The scholarship of discovery
2. The scholarship of integration
3. The scholarship of application
4. The scholarship of teaching
Scholarship of Discovery
The scholarship of discovery encompasses what academics historically have referred to as traditional “research,” as well as creative work in the literary, visual, and performing arts. Its primary purpose is understood as “contributing to the stock of human knowledge and the intellectual climate of a college or university.”
• Refereed publications based on research, scholarly books, book chapters, entries in reference works, and/or monographs.
Scholarship of Integration
The scholarship of integration involves Faculty members “overcoming the isolation and fragmentation of the disciplines, making connections within and between the disciplines, altering the contexts in which people view knowledge and offsetting the inclination to split knowledge into ever more esoteric bits and pieces.”
• Professional development workshops, literature reviews, presentations of research at scholarly conferences or invited conference presentations/roundtables, and non-academic publications that address discipline-related concerns.
Scholarship of Application
The scholarship of application moves toward engagement as the scholar asks, “How can knowledge be responsibly applied to consequential problems?” The underlying idea is that colleges and universities should go beyond educating future leaders and respond to the issues of the day. Lessons learned in the application of knowledge can enrich teaching and new intellectual understanding can arise from the very act of application. In brief, theory and practice interact in such ventures and improve each other.
• The development of grant proposals, obtaining of grant monies, and/or carrying out some form of sponsored research.
• Development of centers for study or service.
• Research projects that address issues of local, state, or other need; preparation of documents such as briefs, manuals, or other publications based on research for the good of the community (theory into practice).
• Consulting arranged through the Office of the Provost and VPAA or as requested by other organizations, service as an editor or editorial board member of a discipline-related professional publication or other form of media (newspaper, magazine, literary magazine, scholarly professional journal, CD, video), new program development, and conference planning.
• Lectures, papers, speeches, or presentations delivered at professional meetings, conventions, and conferences and at colleges and universities.
• Book reviews.
Scholarship of Teaching
Because Keuka College emphasizes teaching, some of the importance of research, scholarship, and creative activity should be measured in terms of its applicability to the classroom. In order to teach effectively, Faculty must be aware of new trends, emergent fields, and techniques in our specialized and rapidly changing disciplines.
The scholarship of teaching “initiates students into the best values of the academy, enabling them to comprehend better and participate more fully in the larger culture.” Reciprocal benefits flow as well to the faculty members who enrich their teaching by building on what they learn in exchanges with students.
• Publication of findings in a pedagogical journal or presentation at a conference with peers external to Keuka College, such as new models of program assessment and teaching techniques that integrate student leadership and experiential learning in the classroom.
• Development of materials that serve as the basis of instruction for an approved or experimental course at Keuka College or at a similar institution for traditional, hybrid, and/or online courses.
• Authoring textbooks.
• Collaborative research with students.
Cross Category Scholarship
Any example of “scholarship” is likely to fall into two or more categories. For example, if a faculty member develops and implements a series of workshops to a scholarly or professional audience, which also leads to the publication of workbooks, manuals, documents, or other public policy documents, the scholarship could well be argued to fall into the categories of scholarship of integration, scholarship of application, and scholarship of teaching.
Keuka College emphasizes teaching and, therefore, the importance of scholarship, research, and creative activity should be measured in terms of its applicability to the classroom. In order to teach effectively, Faculty must be aware of new trends and techniques in their specialized and rapidly-changing disciplines.
The Division expects development of such awareness through some form of scholarship, research, or creative activity appropriate to the discipline or individual professional skills and creative endeavors.
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The Division of Humanities and Fine Arts recognizes that programs within the division will have unique and distinct characteristics that rank and reflect the Boyer model differently. Accordingly, while the programs endorse these common dimensions of the Boyer model as described above, the following discussions identify those characteristics unique to the programs in relation to the Boyer model.
AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE / AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE-ENGLISH INTERPRETING
The parameters for defining research, scholarship, and creative activity among members of the ASL / AEI Program Faculty at Keuka College must broadly represent linguistics and anthropology as represented by a variety of related disciplines including Sociolinguistics, Applied linguistics, Cognitive Science, Cultural Studies, and Literature. We are a blend of "academics" and "professional practitioners." A research-oriented Ph.D. may be expected for those teaching linguistic theory and research courses. Faculty with minority cultural identities may have been precluded from Ph.D. studies and thus their life experience and community membership provide great value for cultural studies and language-learning courses.
Awareness of current linguistic and cultural trends requires that faculty in the ASL / AEI Program pursue specialized activities making them of value to both the Program and to the ASL/Deaf community.
Scholarship of Application
• The production of original texts or videos of some specialized nature, including documentation of language use, instructional content, and theoretical propositions.
• Organization of/participation in ASL and Deaf community events that promote linguistic and cultural heritage or awareness.
There should be some sort of "product" or community impact which may be evaluated by one's peers within the College and by those outside campus when tenure or senior promotions are being considered. One should avoid narrowing the options by ranking either scholarship or professional activity higher or lower than the other, for scholars and professionals coexist on an equal level within the Program.
Likewise, one should take care in ordering endeavors in terms of importance. As a general rule, greater weight will be given to books, monographs, and book chapters than to articles, papers, editing activities, or book reviews. Prestigious refereed publications are preferred to those that are not. However, professional Faculty are encouraged to write for non-refereed publications that require a high level of professional competence similar to demands made upon traditional scholars. "Publication" above may be online or traditional, without prejudice.
In general, national conventions or conferences are given greater weight than regional or local ones, but care must be exercised in this regard, for the individual's contributions must be weighed, not only the reputation of the meeting. Competitive papers and invited lectures carry greater weight than those that are not, yet a faculty member's unscheduled participation in a professional meeting or debate can also be important and must not be overlooked.
In disciplines as diverse as those represented in the ASL / AEI Program, the widest range of scholarship and creative activity must be encouraged.
ART & DESIGN AND VISUAL COMMUNICATION DESIGN
There are a range of disciplines in the Art & Design and Visual Communication Design program, including Graphics, Digital Media and Communications, Studio Arts/Visual Studies (Painting, Drawing, Photography, Sculpture, Visual Design, etc.), Art Education, and Art Therapy. Each of these includes a variety of opportunities that can involve a set of theories, standards for training and practice, methodologies, outcomes, and documented activities.
Scholarship of Discovery
• Studio work in art and design conceived as work in an art or design form without reference to a particular research.
• Studio work in art and design that uses methods of inquiry, investigation, research, or scholarship to inform or support the final product.
• Studio work in art and design conducted in an experimental mode, usually to find out “how things work” in the manner of the scientific mode of thought and action.
Scholarship of Integration
• Curating and organizing exhibitions.
• Jurying/judging exhibitions.
• Demonstrations or workshops for groups outside of Keuka College.
Scholarship of Application
• Websites, advertisements, artwork publications.
• Exhibitions, including juried exhibitions, solo exhibitions, regional exhibitions, national exhibitions, and invitations exhibitions, as well as those with an established gallery or dealer.
• Media production, including software development, video production, cyber work, virtual galleries.
• Commissioned artwork, including painting, photography, pottery, etc.
It must be considered, when evaluating scholarship, that the program will remain open to changing formats of presentation and evaluate new or additional formats as they present themselves due to the broad range of disciplines in art. Work that is being done by faculty that has not yet been published and/or exhibited but is in progress, needs to be acknowledged and recognized as scholarship.
COMMUNICATION
Communication recognizes the potential duality of faculty, blending "academics" and "professionals." In some instances, where a research-oriented Ph.D. is expected for those teaching communication theory, issues, or history, Faculty are most comfortable in a traditional research-scholarship milieu. In other areas, where talented Faculty practitioners are needed to teach applied skills such as writing, production, and other standard subject matter reflecting the pragmatic concerns of the communication industry, it is essential that faculty pursue specialized activities making them of value to the program.
The following are distinct examples of scholarship, research, and creative activity within Communication.
Scholarship of Integration
• The production of a digital presentation of some specialized nature, including interviews or the completion of some research project or documentary. Particularly encouraged are collaborative projects with Faculty and/or professional staff in other disciplines.
Scholarship of Application
• Professional Faculty are encouraged to write for trade or industry publications which, while not refereed, require a high level of professional competence similar to the demands made upon traditional scholars. "Publication" above may be online or traditional, without prejudice.
• Paid or unpaid consultancies in the faculty member's area of expertise that address new ideas or concepts in the discipline are also considered scholarship of application.
These activities should be ranked according to a faculty member’s focus. For instance, a research-oriented Ph.D. may be expected to focus on scholarship of discovery as well as scholarship of teaching, whereas a professional will be expected to focus on scholarship of application in addition to scholarship of teaching. These activities should not be ranked in importance or weight, for scholars and professionals coexist on an equal level within the program.
ENGLISH
The Department of English at Keuka College recognizes that scholarship is essential to excellent teaching. By scholarship and research, the English Department means contributions to the areas which either traditionally comprise the discipline or which comprise the subject matter and teaching responsibilities in the English Department. At present, contributions to the following areas are appropriate: language (linguistics), literature and culture, rhetoric and composition, creative writing, film, digital humanities, and folklore.
Scholarship of Discovery
• Creative writing and translation are authentic and valued activities in the English Department. Given appropriate tests of judgment and publication or performance similar to said criteria for scholarship, they represent valid alternatives to traditional scholarly activity. Documentation similar to that required for other scholarship and research should be supplied.
For the most part, scholarly work which reaches and is acknowledged by a reputable national and/or international audience will be considered of most significance, with regional and local work, respectively, weighted accordingly. This means that in the process of evaluating a scholar's contribution, greatest weight will normally be given to books published by non-vanity presses, and to articles and reviews in refereed journals. Such published scholarship will gain in significance if it receives critical praise from reputable scholars in the field. Articles and reviews in non-refereed journals, though normally of less significance, should not be discounted, but judged according to their clarity, cogency, originality, and significance to the discipline. Successful grant writing and publicly recognized applied research are also valid evidence of scholarship.
Though less weighty than published scholarship of national/international importance, presentations at professional conferences, symposia, and colloquia (international, national, regional, community, and campus-wide) are also appropriate and valid forms of scholarly activity, with—as above—greater weight being given to those activities most widely recognized by reputable scholars.
Less weighty than the type of work described above, but nonetheless worthy of professional recognition, are those activities which enhance the College as a community of scholarship and creativity: for example, lecturing or giving readings to campus groups, student and/or faculty; and organizing and convening scholarly/creative events such as poetry readings, conferences, colloquia, etc. These activities should also be judged according to their substance and value to the discipline, and to the scholarly/creative enrichment of the campus community.
PERFORMING ARTS (THEATRE, MUSIC, DANCE)
The mission of the Performing Arts—Theatre, Music, Dance—is to meet the intellectual and artistic needs of all members of the Keuka College community interested in exploring these art forms as a way of knowing. These programs emphasize the exploration of the performing arts as a liberal art rather than the pursuit of performance training as an object of conservatory study. These programs are based on the assumption that the performing arts are a vital means of personal and social exploration which should be central to the intellectual and cultural life of the College, and should be accessible to all those willing to seriously engage in theatre, music, and dance as a means of expression and as a mode of thought.
The work of the faculty in the Performing Arts is complex, multifaceted, and often interconnected. For example, theatre produces plays and music arranges performances (which are both co-curricular and service activities). Scholarship, research, and creative activity are not only complicated by the fact that it may appear in traditional (i.e., published) forms, as creative work, or as a combination of the two; but it is further complicated by the fact that it may occur in any of a variety of subfields (performance, directing, designing, playwriting, etc. in theatre; performance, composition, and arrangement in music; and performance, choreography, design, and notation in dance) and often requires collaboration with other artists or scholars.
Scholarship of Discovery
• The creation of new knowledge or artistic expression within the discipline, such as compositions, recordings, production and performances.
• Performances of peer reviewed plays or scenes invited to regional conferences.
Scholarship of Integration
• The synthesizing of existing knowledge or creative work within one or more disciplines into new patterns and/or for new audiences.
• Integration of research into a production and/or performance.
Scholarship of Application
• Acting, directing, designing, dramaturgy or playwriting with professional or semi-professional theatre companies.
• Acting, performing, directing musicals and multi-disciplinary performances pieces.
• Recitals, performances, musical compositions, and commissions of original works.
• Invited performances at off-campus venues, such as festivals and performance series.
• Development and implementation of innovative artistic practice or technology, innovative theatre, music, or dance.
• Adjudication or response of peer or professional productions.
Scholarship of Teaching
• Development of community arts education programs
• Development of multi-disciplinary arts curriculum and assessment to share with constituencies outside Keuka College
Scholarship of Discovery and Scholarship of Application count equally toward tenure and promotion in the Performing Arts, although the means of documentation and evaluation differ. Most faculty members will do the preponderance of their work in one of the two areas, and the work overall should give a sense of focus, but the nature of theatre research and instruction will often lead to some work in both areas. Scholarly work is often, but not always, the chosen area of endeavor for faculty members holding a Ph.D., while creative work is pursued by those holding an M.F.A. In programs as small as ours, however, in which faculty members are often called upon to act as generalists rather than specialists, and in which the broader context of theatre, music, or dance as liberal arts takes precedence over professional training, a faculty member’s review portfolio may well include both scholarly and creative work. Also, because the programs are small, only offer a minor, and spend a good deal of its resources on introductory courses for a general education population, as well as productions in theatre that are often introducing at least some of its cast and crew to very basic theatrical skills, the faculty members only rarely have opportunities to fashion upper-level courses around their specific scholarly and creative interests. As a result, portfolios may often reflect a generalist’s range rather than a highly focused research specialty.
The criteria for evaluating Scholarship of Discovery include: (1) originality; (2) knowledge of the field; (3) scope and depth of subjects covered; (4) thoroughness of analysis; (5) clarity of expression; (6) the methods of refereeing and prestige of the publication or presentation venue, and (7) the actual or likely impact of the work.
The forms of documentation and support for Scholarship of Discovery work include: (1) published texts; (2) manuscript or video documentation of conference or on-campus and off-campus presentations; (3) written evaluations of presentations from colleagues in the field; (4) published reviews of publications, and (5) self-evaluation documents; (6) documentation of conference presentations, workshops, etc.
The criteria for evaluating Scholarship of Application (creative work) include: (1) originality, range, and depth of artistic vision; (2) skillful and creative use of materials, performers or one’s self to realize an artistic vision; (3) successful collaboration with other artists; (4) the prestige of the venue(s) in which the work has been presented; and (5) the recognition and likely impact of the work.
The forms of documentation for performance and production vary. For playwrights, the acceptance of a script for publication or performance is equivalent to publication. For designers, working drawings, video tapes, photographs, and light plots of productions are acceptable documents. For directors and actors, video documentation or the prompt book is acceptable. For all these artists, letters from collaborators and published reviews are also acceptable supporting material. The prestige of the performance venue can be contextualized through season brochures, press releases, evidence of grants and awards, and other documents that help define how the venue is viewed in the theatrical profession. As with scholarship, all creative activity should be accompanied with self-evaluation documents.
PHILOSOPHY AND RELIGION (INCLUDING ETHICS)
In these disciplines at Keuka College, scholarship refers to the presentation of one's research, either in written or oral form, to an audience appropriate for the type of research and product, usually presented for dialogue and assessment. It is important that the definition of “audience” be defined somewhat broadly, given there is neither a department of philosophy nor religion at the College. Depending on the topic, presenting research could mean the publication of a book or article, presenting a paper at a national or regional conference within the discipline, at some faculty forum, or even at a community forum.
Normally, the best venues would include those people with enough expertise and background with the subject(s) contained in the research to assess its merit. In any case, the guiding principle is this: Research by itself is not scholarship and must be presented in the appropriate forum for dialogue and critique.
There are numerous criteria for assessing the quality of scholarship, but two criteria should be viewed as primary: the originality of the research and its potential to add to the body of knowledge in the pertinent field. The researcher must be able to defend his or her work on these two grounds.
In terms of assessing the results produced by such scholarship, the following should be considered in this order as prima facie examples of such recognized scholarship. Using appropriate judgment, all evaluations of the research in question ought to take into account the fact that the work involved in higher-ranked items is more involved and time-consuming than is the case for lower-ranked.
1. Book published by a scholarly or recognized press.
2. Book self-published by the author or by a recognized desktop publisher.
3. Article published in a recognized journal within the researcher’s field (peer-reviewed).
4. Article published in an academic journal (peer-reviewed).
5. Article published in a periodical that employs the research in question.
6. Presentation at a national conference.
7. Presentation at a regional conference.
8. Presentation at a specific academic gathering (e.g., faculty forum).
9. Presentation at a community gathering (community forum).
POLITICAL SCIENCE AND HISTORY
Scholarship of Application
• Lectures, papers, speeches, or presentations delivered at professional meetings, conventions, and conferences and at colleges and universities, in addition to non-academic forums (print, podcast, radio, or video/television) in the community that directly involve the expertise of the faculty member.
Scholarship of Teaching
• Research projects developed around a specific theme or themes that are used in a classroom setting or in furtherance of course objectives. These research projects utilize discipline-specific methodologies that faculty train students to use (for ex., interviews and oral history projects; archival research) for the purpose of arriving at course outcomes.
SPANISH LANGUAGE AND CROSS-CULTURAL STUDIES
The successful teacher and scholar in the Spanish Language and Cross-Cultural Studies program at Keuka College will develop, continuously refine, and diligently pursue a scholarly or creative agenda; submit work in progress for peer review; incorporate scholarly or creative learning into appropriate classroom settings; and bring scholarly or creative projects to successful conclusion as demonstrated by performance, presentation, and/or publication.
Scholarship of Discovery
• Translation from the Spanish language into English, from English into Spanish or from Spanish language into English for publication or for presentation at a professional meeting.
Scholarship of Application
• Books, off-prints, manuscripts, portfolios, recordings, exhibition catalogues, videos, etc., that demonstrate Spanish culture or cross-cultural heritage or awareness.