Southeast Center for Education in the Arts

Joel is the Director of Visual ArtEducation at the Southeast Center for Education in the Arts at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. He has BA in Visual Art and English MEd in Curriculum and Instruction from Freed-Hardeman University.

He has worked as an artist and a teacher in a variety of settings. He has created commercial art and design for print and electronic media, designs for stage productions, and works of fine art for show and commission. He has taught children and adults including experiences as an art specialist, a college instructor, and a teaching administrator. He has presented on visual art and arts integration nationally, including the Annenberg Connecting with the Arts workshop series.

Susanne is the Director of Music Education at the Southeast Center for Education in the Arts at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. She has an EdD (ABD) Learning & Leadership, Instructional Design and a Level II Certification, Kodaly Methods, from The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga; an MM in Orff Schulwerk from the University of Memphis; and a BA in Music Education (voice) from California State University, Fullerton.

As an Orff-Schulwerk practitioner and teacher-trainer, Susanne brings an integrated perspective to teaching and learning that merges instruction in music, dance and drama. She is a regional and national workshop presenter for the American Orff Schulwerk Association and has presented nationally for MENC and ECMMA as well as internationally for ISME in Bologna, Italy and Athens, Greece. Susanne’s interests in curriculum integration have led her to advanced studies and research in instructional design, authentic assessment and arts curriculum and the benefits of conceptually driven instruction. She is currently in dissertation exploring the balance of practical and theoretical experiences in the arts as guiding factors in professional development.

Mary is the Director of Dance Education at the Southeast Center for Education in the Arts at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. She has a BA in Interdisciplinary Studies (dance, visual arts and theater) from UNC-Asheville; an MFA in Performance and Choreography from Mills College; and a Bartenieff Instructor Certification from the Laban Institute of Movement Studies.

In addition to teaching dance at the university, she provides mentorship to pre-k through 12th grade educators with arts integration as a professional development model in her work with educators and artists. Previously she taught pre-k through adult learners in public and private settings in Pennsylvania. She received support as a choreographer and teaching artist from Philadelphia Dance Projects in Pennsylvania and has presented choreography in the San Francisco, Oakland, and Philadelphia communities. Mary was a teaching assistant and full scholarship recipient for her graduate studies in California. Whie living there she also taught in the Oakland/Berkeley early childhood education centers, public schools, studio settings and worked in nationwide professional development program for teaching artists and educators.

Her interests in dance education and early childhood creative movement have provided opportunities for her to present workshops at the National Dance Education Organization, Tennessee Association for the Education of Young Children, East Tennessee State University, University of North Carolina at Asheville, and Tennessee Association of Dance. She is a 2010 graduate of Allied Arts of Greater Chattanooga's Holmberg Arts Leadership program.

Laurie is the Director of Theatre Education at the Southeast Center for Education in the Arts at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. She has a BA in English with an Emphasis in Dramatic Studies and a Minor in Speech Communication Studies from Webster University, St. Louis; an MFA in Theatre with a Concentration in Theatre for Young Audiences from theUniversity of Central Florida; and is a MPA Nonprofit Management Candidate at The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.

She mentors and collaborates with teachers to connect drama with their curriculum and re-envision their classrooms as places of active learning. Her experience as a classroom teacher and a teaching artist has given her a diverse perspective of the purpose, placement, and perception of arts education in K-12 schools today. Constantly looking through a process-centered lens, her specialized training in methodologies of teaching drama, theatre for social change, and collaboration remain foundational aspects of her work. As a community arts training (CAT) fellow at the St. Louis Regional Arts Commission, she investigated ways the arts can meaningfully partner with social service providers to forward community arts programs.

In her current work, Laurie engages and presents on topics such as concept-based arts integration, bridging generational gaps, digital storytelling, and demystifying preconceived notions about the arts. As she shares her ideas across diverse fields of theatre and education, she continues to soak in and reflect upon varying viewpoints about arts education for today’s student.