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Karen Keifer-Boyd

Professor of Art Education & Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
Karen Keifer-Boyd's headshot against yellow background.

Karen Keifer-Boyd, Ph.D., is a professor of art education and women’s, gender, and sexuality studies at Penn State. She is past president of the National Art Education Association (NAEA) Women’s Caucus (2012-2014), NAEA Distinguished Fellow Class of 2013, was the 2012 Fulbright Distinguished Chair in Gender Studies at Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt, Austria. Her first Fulbright Scholars award was in Finland (2006). She is a recipient of a National Art Education Foundation grant (2017-2018) for social justice art education and a National Science Foundation grant (2010-2012) regarding gender barriers in technology. She received the NAEA’s 2013 Edwin Ziegfeld Award, Women’s Caucus 2014 McFee Award, NAEA’s 2015 Technology Outstanding Research Award, and the 2018 Special Needs Lifetime Achievement Award. She serves on the Art Education Research Institute Steering Committee; the Council for Policy Studies; the NAEA Data Visualization Think Tank, and served on the NAEA Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Taskforce and as coordinator of the Caucus on Social Theory in Art Education. She is co-founder and editor of the journal “Visual Culture & Gender.” Her research on feminist pedagogy, inclusion, disability justice, transdisciplinary creativity, transcultural dialogue, and social justice arts-based research are in numerous publications and translated into several languages. She co-authored four books: “Including Difference” (NAEA, 2013); “InCITE, InSIGHT, InSITE” (NAEA, 2008); “Engaging Visual Culture” (Davis, 2007); co-edited “Real-World Readings in Art Education: Things Your Professors Never Told You” (Falmer, 2000); and served as editor of the “Journal of Social Theory in Art Education” and guest editor for “Visual Arts Research.”

  • Education
    • PhD from University of Oregon in 1993
    • MS from University of Oregon in 1989
    • BFA from Kansas City Art Institute in 1978
  • Courses Taught
    • Colloquium in Art Education “Art at the Center: Transdisciplinary Creativity”
    • Including Difference
    • Out of Here: Judy Chicago Participatory Art Pedagogy
    • Gender, Art, and STEM, revised to Transdisciplinary Creativity: Eco-Social Justice Art
    • Art, Pedagogy, Exhibition, and Research
    • New Media and Pedagogy
    • Diversity, Visual Culture, and Pedagogy
    • Contemporary Art and Public Pedagogy
    • Action Research in Art/Museum Education
    • Feminist Art, Intersectionality, and Museums
    • Feminist Art Gallery Conversations
    • Web 2.0 Pedagogies
    • Colloquium
    • Artistic Creations and Theories of Knowing
    • Research in Art Education
    • Visual Culture and Art Education
    • Visual Culture and Educational Technologies
    • Introduction to Art Education
    • Capstone in Art Education
  • Honors + Awards

    AWARDS

    2018

    • National Art Education Association, CEC, VSA Beverly Levett Gerber Special Needs Lifetime Achievement Award

    2015

    • National Art Education Association’s Art Education & Technology Outstanding Research Award

    2014

    • National Art Education Association’s Women’s Caucus June King McFee Award for an exceptional and continuous record of achievement in scholarly writing, research, professional leadership, teaching, or community service that has made distinguished contributions to the profession of art education

    2013

    • Inducted as National Art Education Association Distinguished Fellow, Class of 2013
    • Edwin Ziegfeld Award from the United States Society of Education through Art (USSEA) for outstanding and internationally recognized contribution to art education through exceptional records of achievement.

    2012

    • Fulbright Distinguished Chair of Gender Studies Award at Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt in Zentrum für Frauen- und Geschlechterstudien from the Council for International Exchange of Scholars (March-June 2012)

    2006

    • Fulbright Lecture and Research Award in Finland from the Council for International Exchange of Scholars (August-December)

    2005

    • National Art Education Association Women’s Caucus Kathy Connors Teaching Award for excellence in teaching and mentoring in the profession of Art Education

    2001

    • Outstanding Art Educator in Higher Education Division, Texas Art Education Association
    • Installed as a member of the Chi Chapter of Phi Beta Delta (Honor Society for International Scholars)

    1998

    • Inducted into Texas Tech University Teaching Excellence Academy

    1994

    • Pacific Region Supervisor/Administrator of the Year Award, National Art Education Association. The National Art Education Association made their selection from among Pacific Rim nominees representing 11 states and 3 territories of the USA for “exemplary contribution, service, and achievement at the Regional level.”

    GRANTS

    2017–18

    • National Art Education Foundation grant award of $10,000 for “Fostering Upstanders Actions Toward Social Justice Art Education.” (PI) [Completed.]

    2016

    • Penn State Institute for Arts & Humanities Research grant award of $3,500 for “CyberHouse: Place-based Art Education.” [Completed.]

    2013

    • Harvard University, Radcliff Institute for Advanced Study, Schlesinger Library Research Support Grant of $1,400 for “Bridging Feminist Archives: Judy Chicago’s Teaching and Collaborative Artworks” archival research [Completed.]
    • Penn State Institute for Arts & Humanities Research Grant of $3,500 for “Bridging Feminist Archives: Judy Chicago’s Teaching and Collaborative Artworks” archival research and exhibition catalogue [Completed.]

    2010–2013

    • Project Evaluator funded by a National Science Foundation Grant (NSF) of $149, 999. The NSF grant principle investigator is Dr. Eileen Trauth, and the project title is “Addressing Gender Barriers in STEM through Theatre of Social Engagement” (#1039546) [Completed.]

    2012

    • Fulbright Lecture and Research Grant from the Council for International Exchange of Scholars (March-June in Austria) [Completed.]

    2010–2011

    • Awarded a Penn State College of Arts and Architecture Creative Accomplishment and Research Grant of $5200 for “Facilitating Penn State and Makerere University in Uganda Transcultural Dialogues about Contemporary Visual Culture.” [Completed.]

    2009

    • Teaching Award (4,800 euros + travel & living expenses) from the Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt in Zentrum für Frauen- und Geschlechterstudien (Gender Studies) (May-June). [Completed.]

    2007–11

    • Awarded a Penn State College of Arts and Architecture Faculty Research Grant of $5000 for “A Virtual Learning Environment to Explore Power and Privilege in Visual Culture.” [Completed]

    2006

    • Fulbright Lecture and Research Grant (10,000 euros + travel & living expenses) from the Council for International Exchange of Scholars (August-December in Finland). [Completed.]

    2004–05

    • Awarded a College of Arts and Architecture Faculty Research Grant of $3588 for “CyberHouse, an Art Education Strategy to Explore Perception, Production, and Dissemination of Visual Cultural Practices of Inclusion and Exclusion from Power and Privilege.” [Completed.]

    2003

    • Awarded $2000 from The Envisioning the Future Foundation, Pomona, California and $2000 from Penn State’s College of Arts Architecture for research and a DVD publication on “Judy Chicago’s Participatory Art Pedagogy Informed by Feminist Principles.” [Completed.]

    1999–2000

    • Awarded $3586.80 from the Teaching, Learning, and Technology Center, Texas Tech University for “WebCT to Teach Research Methods in the Visual Arts: Issues of Interactivity, Connected Learning, and Collaboration.” [Completed.]

    1997-1998

    • Awarded $1,800 from the Institute for University Research, Texas Tech University for “Gender Factors in Interpreting Images.” [Completed.]

    1996-1997

    • Awarded $5,000 from the Teaching, Learning, and Technology Center, Texas Tech University for “Critical Inquiry in the Arts with Interactive Hypermedia and the Internet.” [Completed.]
  • Exhibitions + Productions

    2019

    • Keifer-Boyd, K. “Art at the Center: Transdisciplinary Creativity.” Borland Project Space. Penn State.
    • Keifer-Boyd, K. Curated the U.S.-China College Art Exhibition, “Heterotopia-Platform. Art: Inside Realities, Outside Perceptions.” Exhibition Catalog at (www.collegeartsummit.org/summit19)

    2017

    • Keifer-Boyd, K., Collins, G., Davenport, V., Drobka, A., Karpinski, E., & Young, S. “Games: A 360-degree Video Exhibition in the Immersive Experience Lab at Penn State.”

    2013

    • Keifer-Boyd, K., Knight, W. B., Knochel, A., Liao, C., Meier, M. E., Patton, R., Shin, R., & Sweeny, R. “Moving Mountains” (14 min. video). Retrieved from (streaming.psu.edu/media/?movieId=24413)

    2007

    • Keifer-Boyd, K. (Producer/Editor/Co-Writer/Actor) with Deborah Smith-Shank (Co-writer/Actor). Who’s in Bed with Handmaiden, “Visual Culture & Gender, 2,” 101. (www.emitto.net/visualculturegender)
    • Keifer-Boyd, K. (July–August). “Write/Erase” [interactive watercolor]. Art Educator as Artist. Hammond Regional Art Center. Exhibition chair: Denise Tullier-Holly. Hammond, Louisiania.

    2000

    • Keifer-Boyd, K. (Producer/Director/Editor), February. “Lynne Hull: Ecoatonements in West Texas.” Video premiered at Landmark Arts Gallery, Lubbock, Texas.

    1995

    • Congdon, K. (Producer), Degge, R. (Producer), & Keifer-Boyd, K. (Director/Editor). “A conversation with June King McFee” (35-minute video). Premiered in 1995 at the National Art Education Association Annual Conference, the National Taipei Teachers College, and at the Third Penn State International Symposium on the History of Art Education. (aad.uoregon.edu/june-king-mcfee)

    1994

    • Keifer-Boyd, K. (Producer/Director/Editor). “East/West Arts & Culture Family Camp.” Video funded by the University of Oregon Continuing Education Center and shown at schools in the Pacific Rim.

    1993

    • Keifer-Boyd, K. (Producer/Director/Editor). “Alternative Ways to Experience Art: A Tactile Tour” (Video).
  • Publications + Presentations
    • Please see C.V. for list of publications, proceedings, and presentations.
  • Service + Affiliations
    • Please see C.V. for list of services.
  • Expertise