Arts NC State Connects Curriculum with the Arts

Students attending NC State may have wondered if there were any thematic connections between their classes and various arts events occurring on campus. With so many arts productions happening each semester, from captivating performances by both professional artists and talented students, to immersive crafts and theatre workshops and bold museum gallery exhibits, there are many ways to connect what students are learning in the classroom with the arts. 

That’s where Arts NC State comes in. Arts NC State has identified this hidden area of interdisciplinarity, and has created meaningful, artistic connections for faculty and students for more than 20 years through the Curricular Connections Guide (CCG) with the goal of exposing students to an artform they may have never thought to explore, and to enhance the overall college experience. Since its inception, the CCG has become the hub of high impact student experiences related to the arts.

Here’s what some faculty have said:

“This [the CCG] is a great way to integrate the arts into academic work, to foster a well-rounded education where art appreciation and the development of an artistic sensibility have a place regardless of majors, and to increase students’ awareness that their education has meaningful applications beyond the classroom walls and the confines of their academic fields of study.”

—Dr. Hélène Ducros, Lecturer, Interdisciplinary Studies

“Bringing students to the Gregg Museum has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my teaching career at NCSU. Invariably students who have been quiet in class seem to come out of their shells and find ways to engage with the Gregg’s amazing collection. Knowing that different students have different learning styles is quite different from seeing it in action before you as they open up and make connections that hadn’t been made before between theory and practice.”

—Anna Bigelow, Associate Professor, Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies

Experiences like these have the potential to enhance a student’s tactical understanding of the course work and expose students to artistic events and opportunities they might not encounter otherwise.

How the CCG works: An interview with Jen Flowers, Arts NC State intern and CCG data analyst

To help us gain a better understanding of the CCG, Arts NC State intern Jen Flowers walks us through her experience with digging through course data to uncover connections to arts programming. Jen Flowers, a senior Business Administration major with a concentration in Information Technology, was the perfect person for the job this semester. I asked Jen some questions about the process of creating this year’s CCG to help our readers understand the importance and impact of the work Arts NC State does for our campus partners.

ML: In your own words, what is the Curricular Connections Guide? How is it used?

JF: The CCG is ultimately a tool that connects professors and on-campus organizations to relevant arts events on campus. This school is so big, and so much goes on, that no one person can hear about everything. So, we help out with making sure that students can access all the incredible arts that campus has to offer!

ML: How are you using your expertise in business administration in relation to art and your role at Arts NC State? Did you have any experience in data mining before this? If so, did it help? If not, how did you approach this project?

JF: The business school is not the most arts-oriented, and of course, you can’t expect them to be. I started bridging the gap between arts and business with the Arts Entrepreneurship minor program here at State (shoutout to Dr. B). That gave me a good view on arts markets, especially working with college students in our practical capstone. But in the Poole College of Management itself, the IT program has a lot of applications in data science. So, I’ve had some experience in data mining in class. This was my first non-academic, or “real-life” application though.

ML: What does your process look like when you are choosing classes for the CCG?

JF: There are a couple steps here. The first one is, of course, compiling all of the arts events happening on campus in a given semester from all of the programs under the Arts NC State umbrella. Next, I research each show. I figure out the major themes for each event, and what topics the artist cares about, or what messages they wish to communicate with their work. With all of that information compiled, I go to the course catalog for that semester to find professors that may find these events relevant to their classes. I start with the most obvious subjects, like the arts and humanities. But the most fun part is diving into the more STEM-based courses, and getting a bit more creative with it.

For example, NC State Live is bringing us an incredible show called The Immortal Jellyfish Girl in the spring. This not only applies to topics like playwriting and science fiction, but also science communication and marine biology and conservation. We also note any relevant student organizations that may be interested. We reach out to the involved faculty members, format everything to be as succinct and accessible as possible, and then the ball is in their court to work with us and get the word out to their students as they see fit.

ML: Why do you think the CCG is important for NC State students and faculty?

JF: Faculty get practical examples of what they’re teaching to show their students. Almost like how English teachers in high school would show you the movie after you read the book. And through the CCG, students (as well as faculty) are more likely to hear about and get access to all of these incredible and relevant arts events. It’s ultimately about how important accessibility is.

There are so many benefits from the arts, especially in STEM fields. A lot of students have to keep their heads in their books to stay on top of their work, and they may not know about all the incredible things we have to offer on this campus. They deserve to take advantage of every experience that they can.

ML: Do you have any future hopes for the CCG? Whether that is connecting classes that have not been connected to arts events before, more collaboration between Arts NC State and faculty, or anything else?

JF: I think my biggest hope is that faculty starts to think about us while writing their lesson plans and syllabus. I know so many of them value interdisciplinarity, and the CCG is an excellent opportunity to add just that.

The Curricular Connections Guide serves as a valuable resource for NC State faculty, enabling them to provide added value for their students in the form of high impact experiences that can solidify course content in a student’s mind. 

Want to get started?

Learn more about the Curricular Connections Guide on the Arts NC State website.