Abstract
This paper examines the possibilities and limitations of integrating feminist discourse into art education in Israeli higher education through a case study of the feminist-oriented Art Department at Kibbutzim College, which I headed from 2012 to 2020. Although feminist scholarship has long exposed the patriarchal foundations of the art canon, art education programs in Israel continue to reproduce hierarchical, Western, and masculine structures. The central question of this study is whether feminist discourse can be sustained within academic art education and how it can transform curriculum and institutional culture. Drawing on my article Can Art Education in Israeli Academia Be Feminist?, I argue that feminist pedagogy can operate not only at the content level—teaching women artists, gender theories, and activist art—but also structurally, through shared authority between faculty and students, inclusive language, safe learning environments, revised critique practices, and the integration of theory with artistic and social action. Initiatives such as “Gender Week” and annual exhibitions for International Women’s Day show how feminist academic activism can be embedded institutionally rather than symbolically. The paper positions art education as a fertile arena for social transformation due to its openness to interdisciplinarity, embodied learning, and community engagement. When feminist pedagogy is approached as an epistemology rather than a topic, art education becomes a “life system” linking identity, body, knowledge production, and civic agency. The model presented offers a framework adaptable to institutions seeking to rethink their educational ecosystems.
Presenters
Hadara Scheflan KatzavHead of the ABR (Arts-Based Research) Graduate Track, Department of Visual Literacy – M.Ed. Program, Kibbutzim College of Education, Technology and the Arts, Tel-Aviv, Israel
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
FEMINIST PEDAGOGY, ART EDUCATION, PRACTICE-BASED RESEARCH, GENDER IN ART, SOCIAL ACTIVISM
