Art History
Instructor: Robert Coad
Robert Coad has taught AP and Honors Art History at Hamilton High School’s Humanities Magnet in Los Angeles Unified School District for the past 19 years, as
well as studio courses, Museum Studies and Humanities. He presently teaches three classes of AP Art History.
Over the last eleven years, Robert has been a frequent presenter of one-day AP Art History Workshops for the College Board Western Region and 5-day summer institutes throughout the
Western Region, Canada and Columbia College’s national AP Summer Institute for the Arts (2005). Robert has presented one-day Art History Workshops at AP National Conferences (Chicago,
Los Angeles, Florida) as well as a panelist at Western Region Academic Conferences in Seattle, Anaheim and San Francisco as well as three on-line events and workshops regarding contextual
analysis for AP Central. As a National Leader Consultant he has been involved in consultant training. Robert has been a Reader for AP Art History and honored as a Distinguished Teacher (AP
Art History) at the Western Region Conference in Las Vegas (2006).
Robert is a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship recipient and has received a Humanities Teacher Leadership program award from the NEH in 2002-2003. He has National
Board Certification in Early Adolescence through Young Adulthood Art (2002/2012) and has served on the Excellence Awards Advisory Committee for the Los Angeles Educational Partnership
Excellence Awards for Teaching. Robert is Mentor teacher and BTSA Support Provider for LAUSD at his school site. You can email Robert at
robertjcoad@sbcglobal.net
2012 Session Outline
The focus of this workshop will emphasize implementing and developing an AP Art History program and addressing the needs and concerns of both experienced and new teachers to AP. Sessions will cover critical issues relating to teaching AP Art History in high schools, including an overview of the course outline and its demanding curriculum, pacing of the course and classroom time management, selecting appropriate texts and outlining strategies and methodologies necessary for building a successful program. A variety of instructional approaches will be presented including how to develop writing and critical thinking skills. There will be special emphasis on strategies for teaching “context” and comparative analysis of art works, which will be modeled by the presenter and practiced by workshop participants. There will also be sessions on preparing students for the AP examination, test taking and review strategies with extensive review of essay grading and assessment procedures used at the AP Reading. ETS and College Board test materials from the 2012 Reading will be used. New developments on the exam, including the new exam format as well as the continued emphasis on contextualizing art will be addressed. Attention will be given to how to realistically include non-western art and relate these visual objects and structures to their cultural contexts. Specific strategies and suggestions on how to tackle the ever-expanding course curriculum and how to make connections between very diverse cultural artifacts will be discussed with slide presentations and field trips to local museums.
