Thursday, February 28, 2019 Sacramento State University had the privilege of having guest lecturer, Dr. Kevin Jenkins speak to us about his personal experiences and teaching techniques. As a Dr. of Art Education, Jenkins work includes, of course art, however there is so much more to what he does. He has focused his work on finding new ways to get his students interested in art while creating a safe space for them as well as executing a role as a transgender therapist.
Jenkins explains that he realized that his students were not prepared to write college level papers. They would avoid writing their artwork critique essays out of fear of failing. That’s when he decided he needed to create assignments to help connect his students with art. One example of this is he designed virtual galleries for his students. He also created art classes with connections to social justice. This is a computer art application in which the students can create digital art, their own lesson plans, and upload their own artwork. As an aspiring art professor, I find these ideas innovative and inspiring.
A great deal of Jenkins work is associated with his individual journey. He was a college drop out and then eventually became a Doctor of Art Education over an indefinite period of time. As a transgender person, Jenkins has written his dissertation, “Body on Social Media”, for the observation and examination of our culture. He has created a number of theories in which he can explain what binary and transgender individuals go through and how to better navigate and understand life with certain cultural expectations. He explains that gender is set to cultural norms. Whoever you are, his goal is to share his research and experiments to help you. His theories are intersected with life and he uses his terms and theories, such as “transdigression” to open up personal thinking. He also does LGBTQ alliance training. Again, he is very interested in allowing a safe space for his students while giving them ample opportunity to be artistically inspired. When I asked him what his main goal as an educator was, he replied with, “Hearing and listening to the students as much as possible is key and to ask yourself, what can you as an educator do to make that student feel safe but with being aware of boundaries and certain limitations.”
The work Dr. Kevin Jenkins is doing is directly linked to contemporary life. Binary, transgender, and gay individuals have been apart of humanity for centuries, it’s just very taboo and controversial in our current society. His story was extremely insightful and I hope he is invited back to Sacramento State so more students have the opportunity to hear him speak.
(Dr. Kevin Jenkins and I after his lecture)
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