AbstractThis chapter considers the theoretical and methodological underpinnings of
visual arts integration in FL language classes as a means of challenging students’
cultural beliefs through new forms of expression and through engagement with
the beliefs of others. It does so by presenting a two-year project called “Language
through the Visual Arts: An Interdisciplinary Partnership,” conducted at Harvard
University. Responding to the call for cultural teaching in a systematic, meaningful,
and innovative way, this project aimed to (1) incorporate work with visual arts
(paintings, sculptures, installations, artifacts, and digital images) into the curriculum
of Beginning Spanish (first and second semester) and Intermediate-Advanced
Italian (fourth semester); and (2) develop an intra-institutional partnership
with the university museums. Student assignments and their survey comments
point to the benefits of expanding the teaching/learning spaces of FL courses, by
allowing
students to think outside the physical box of the classroom and the intellectual
box of their cultural perspectives. Finally, following recent calls for greater
FL professionalization, this chapter discusses the advantages and challenges of
training TAs in effective strategies for arts integration. The authors argue that
the instructional opportunities align more closely with graduate students’ literary
backgrounds, and thus bolster their professional training as scholars of literature
and of the humanities in general.
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