Juan Carlos Castro, PhD

Professor, Art Education

Biography    Teaching activities   

Juan Carlos Castro (Ph.D.) is a Professor of Art Education at Concordia University. He was Chair of the Department of Art Education from 2017-2022. He is the editor of the book: Mobile media in and outside of the art classroom: Attending to identity, spatiality, movement, and materiality (2019) in which he and his team examined how mobile media coupled with creative production networks knowledge in urban environments to create educational and civic engagement with teens and young adults. His current research, as the Principal Investigator of the Canadian Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council-funded project: Investigating the Creative Practices of Youth in Digital Visual Learning Networks, looks at how young people use digital visual networks to support creative practice outside of formal schooling. Before joining the faculty at Concordia University, Juan Carlos has taught at the University of Illinois, the University of British Columbia, Johns Hopkins University, Maryland Institute College of Art, and the Burren College of Art. Juan Carlos is a former National Board Certified Teacher and taught visual art and photography at Towson High School in Maryland. As a high school art teacher, his teaching and curriculum were awarded a Coca-Cola Foundation Distinguished Teacher in the Arts from the National Foundation for the Advancement in the Arts and twice awarded with a U.S. Presidential Scholars Teacher Recognition Award. In 2013, he was awarded the Manuel Barkan Memorial Award, and in 2022 the National Higher Education Art Educator Award, both from the National Art Education Association. Juan Carlos served as the Chair of the National Art Education Association Research Commission from 2018 to 2020. He is also co-editor of the books entitled: Educational, Psychological, and Behavioral Considerations in Niche Online Communities (2014) and Youth practices in digital arts and new media: Learning in formal and informal settings (2015).

Selected thesis supervision

M.A.
Cann, Stacey E. (2012) The Identity of the Curator and Educator: A phenomenological analysis of the curation of Postcards From Home. Masters thesis, Concordia University.

Lalonde, Martin (2013) Éducation artistique et technologie de la mobilité : des moyens d'engagement civique et académique pour les jeunes à risque. Masters thesis, Concordia University.

Carlisi, Tina (2013) École libre: Visualising a Social Pedagogic Movement. Masters thesis, Concordia University.

Milliken, Christopher (2013) In Search of Reciprocity Across a Standards Based Assessment Reform Network in Maine. Masters thesis, Concordia University.

Akbari, Ehsan (2014) Soundscape Compositions for Art Classrooms. Masters thesis, Concordia University.

Viens, Marie-Pier (2016) Voyage humanitaire scolaire et enseignement des arts : La photographie comme outil d’intégration et d’échange culturel.Masters thesis, Concordia University.

Moreno Bustamante, Lina María (2016) Talking About Images; Possible Conversations in Art Education. Masters thesis, Concordia University.

Lee, Somi (2016) Advantages and Limitations of Mentoring Students Online in Building their Art University Entrance Portfolios. Masters thesis, Concordia University.

Moore, Allison Cicero (2016) Heirloom Jewelry: An Actant of History and Identity. Masters thesis, Concordia University.

Forget, Bettina (2017) Converging Art and Science: Considering the Conditions in which Women and Girls enter STEM Subjects. Masters thesis, Concordia University.

Bórquez Schwarzbeck, Marcela (2018) Investigating the Relationship between Materiality and Meaning in Art Education Settings. Masters thesis, Concordia University.

Ph.D.

McMaster, Scott R. (2016) Crowdsourcing Global Culture: Visual Representation in the Age of Information. PhD thesis, Concordia University.

Salvador Edmundo Valdovinos Rodríguez (2016). A comparative study of research-for-design:
Teaching and learning in two undergraduate graphic design programs in Canada and Mexico. PhD thesis, Concordia University. 

Freire, Manuelle (2017) What is new in new media art education? A critical discourse analysis of the mythologies of media art education at the university. PhD thesis, Concordia University. Co-supervised with Dr. Lorrie Blair

Gillespie, Jethro (2018) Rethinking and Remaking a High School Art Foundations Curriculum. PhD thesis, Concordia University.

Lalonde, Martin (2018) Approche des médias sociaux mobiles basés sur l'image en éducation artistique : une étude sur les affects adolescents et sur la complexité des systèmes d'apprentissage. PhD thesis, Concordia University.

Courses Taught

ARTE 220: Foundations in Art Education

ARTE 354: Time-Based Media

ARTE 498: Special Topics in Inter-related Media and Technologies. Topics included: New and Social Media in Art Education, New Technologies in Art Education, art technology education.

ARTE 424: Seminar, Art Education in the Secondary School II

ARTE 425: Practicum in the Secondary School II

ARTE 607-9, 806-7: Topics in Studio Inquiry. Topics included: Social Practice and Pedagogy, Praxis: Connecting theory and art, Pedagogy of Process.

ARTE 660, 850: Special Topics in Art Education. Topics included: Theories of Teaching and Learning in Art Education and Theories of Complexity, Networks, and Spatiality in Art Learning