Melanie Davenport, PhD.
Associate Professor Ernest G. Welch School of Art & Design- Biography
An Atlanta native, Dr. Davenport earned her BFA from University of Georgia in 1986, her MAEd in Art Education at Georgia State in 1993, and her PhD in Curriculum and Instruction from Indiana University in 2001. She joined the art education faculty at Georgia State in 2007. She served on the World Council of the International Society for Education through Art from 2008 to 2011 and has been active in the United States Society for Education through Art, as well as the National Art Education Association.
Dr. Davenport previously taught art in Fulton County Public Schools as an elementary art teacher and as an adaptive art specialist, and loves teaching elementary methods courses, in addition to graduate courses on research, history, and culture in art education. Her research interests have focused upon international-comparative and intercultural approaches to art education, media literacy and visual culture, and indigenous education. From 2007 to 2009, she led visual communication workshops with indigenous youth in Mexico, toward the production of stop-motion animated shorts that present their traditional stories in their own languages. She has also studied middle school art education in Japan and post-colonial curriculum reform in settings around the world. Her current research explores Creative Aging and art education, the topic of a forthcoming volume she is co-editing. Dr. Davenport has an extensive record of presentations and publications in the field, at the regional, national and international level.