Faculty
Juliann B. Dorff
Senior Lecturer
jdorff@kent.edu
Phone: 330-672-1357
Juliann B. Dorff graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the College of Mount St. Joseph. After an eleven year radio career, she volunteered at her children’s elementary school to teach art in grades one through three. This experience inspired her to return to school earning a Master of Arts in Teaching from Kent State University. Now in her eleventh year as an instructor at Kent State University, she has taught all the courses in the art education sequence with a focus on the Field Experience course. Her philosophy of teaching centers around her devotion to providing her students with the tools necessary to teach all children. In 2005, Ms. Dorff was recognized for her teaching excellence receiving the Outstanding Teaching Award from Kent State. In 2008, she was recognized as a Friend of Kent City Schools for her work with students at the Roosevelt High School Annex. She is a contributing author in the National Art Education Association text Understanding Students with Autism Through Art published in 2010.
Ms. Dorff’s current research area is teaching art to students with special needs, in particular, students with autism. She lives in Kent with her husband, Peter and has two children, Bob and Anne.
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Linda Hoeptner Poling
Associate Professor
lhoeptne@kent.edu
Phone: 330-672-7895
Linda Hoeptner Poling has been an art educator since 1989. An Associate Professor in Art Education at Kent State University, while raising two children she earned a Ph.D. in Curriculum & Instruction in 2005. She also earned a M.A. in Art Education in 1998, and a B.A. in Art Education in 1989. Dr. Hoeptner Poling currently serves as President-Elect of the Women’s Caucus of the National Art Education Association. Prior to and overlapping with her higher education experience, Dr. Hoeptner Poling’s positions in K-12 art teaching provided the foundation for her passion to prepare future art educators. Having served two terms as Higher Education Co-Chair for the Ohio Art Education Association, she is committed to serving PK-12 art educators and collaborating with other teacher educators within the state, and nationally. Dr. Hoeptner Poling’s research continues to emphasize awareness and deeper understanding of gender issues in art education. Her research threads have included the intersections of gendered identity, narrative inquiry as knowledge construction, and equitable pedagogy at all levels of education. Most recently, Dr. Hoeptner Poling’s lines of inquiry have focused on the symbiotic relationship of motherhood and academia, as well as inclusive and equitable art curriculum for students with special needs through the Kennedy Center and the VSA Program. In addition, recent practice includes the study and teaching of art to the elderly, specifically those with dementia, aiming to reveal the nexus of artmaking and the elderly within the transformative power of art.
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Koon-Hwee Kan
Associate Professor
kkan@kent.edu
Phone: 330-672-9508
Koon-Hwee Kan is an Associate Professor of Art Education at Kent State University School of Art. Koon earned her Doctor of Education and Master of Arts degrees in Art Education from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana. Her dissertation, an ethnographic case study entitled, A Story Told Visually: The Singapore Secondary School Art Style, won several awards. Her research interests include intercultural, distance, and continuing education through interactive technology and preservice art teacher education as well as qualitative methodology, especially visual narrative inquiry.
Koon has published more than 20 articles in art education journals such as the Studies in Art Education, Journal of Museum Education, Art Education, Visual Arts Research, and International Journal of Education & the Arts. She has presented her scholarship locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally. Funding for Koon’s research has been provided by the Kent State University Research Council and Kent State University College of the Arts Catalyst Interdisciplinary Project Grants, as well as the University Moulton Scholar Program Scholarship, Marilyn Zurmuehlen Award for Distinguished Research in Art Education, and Baker-Nord Center for the Humanities Seminar Fellowships.
Her recent scholarship emphasizes the engagement of diverse, worldwide communities dedicated to successful global and local connections through the visual arts. In addition to teaching myriad graduate and undergraduate classes for the School of Art, Koon has served as coordinator for the KSU Art Enrichment for Young People program for 17 years. She regularly exhibits works in local and regional juried shows. Her favorite art medium include mixed medium watercolor and digital photo collage.
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Robin Vande Zande
Professor and Division Coordinator
rvandeza@kent.edu
Phone: 330-672-7866
Robin Vande Zande has taught art in a variety of settings, including elementary, middle and high school as well as higher education at Kent State University. She received her Ph.D in urban education with a concentration in art education at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Her research area is design education for K-12 students, with publications on teaching sustainable design and urban planning, design education and brain-based principles, design education as community outreach, the design process of problem-solving, and teaching aesthetics through everyday objects. She has been a guest speaker at national and state events, speaking on the advantages of teaching design as it relates to social responsibility and the economy.
Dr. Vande Zande is chair of the Design Issues Group of the National Art Education Association and a member of the Board of Trustees Education Committee of the National Building Museum in Washington, DC. She is a co-founder of the organization DESIGN-ED. See link for more information. She has been a consultant for the Frank Lloyd Wright Wescott House Museum, Springfield, Ohio, and the Design Lab Early College High School, a design-based Cleveland Public School.