Dr. Emily Jean Hood will join the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in the fall as the new assistant professor of art education. 

“We’re looking forward to welcoming Dr. Hood to the Department of Art and Design,” Chair Thomas Clifton said. “Art education is an active program with a significant number of students and a substantial employment success rate for our graduates. I’m sure Dr. Hood’s extensive experience in secondary education and her research will be a valuable asset to the program, the department and the community.”

Hood’s duties include teaching undergraduate courses in art education, coordinating the art education program, including content and curriculum development, advising undergraduate art education majors, program coordination with the School of Education and local school districts, and supervising student teachers.

“Teaching and art are truly magical,” Hood said. “I know I will learn so much working with up and coming art educators at UA Little Rock. I can’t wait to meet my students. I’m also excited about experiencing the broader UA Little Rock community and making connections and collaborations with folks all over campus. The art and design department has access to a lot of great resources from facilities to travel abroad opportunities.”

Hood, a native of Grants, New Mexico, has been interested in art ever since her mother encouraged her to create.

“Art has always had such a big positive, even transformative, influence in my life, and art education gives me a way to pass that on to others,” she said. “My mom always encouraged me to make stuff even as a young child. As an undergrad, I was actually interested in art therapy. In a senior humanities class, I wrote a research paper about art therapy and realized that there are similarities between art therapy and art education, so I eventually opted to get a master’s degree and certification in art education.”

Hood earned a bachelor’s degree in humanities from Lubbock Christian University as well as a master’s degree and Ph.D. in art education, both from the University of North Texas.

Prior to joining UA Little Rock, Hood served as a visiting assistant professor of art education at Appalachian State University, where she was nominated for the Excellence in Teaching Award this semester. She also worked as a visiting assistant professor of art education at Texas Woman’s University, a teaching fellow at the University of North Texas, and an art teacher at three Texas K-12 schools. Her research focuses on amplifying voices that have been left out of art education scholarship and pedagogy in the past.

Hood said that she’s looking forward to revitalizing the art education program at UA Little Rock.

“The new program will focus on emergent and child-centered pedagogies where art is situated as a path for inquiry and exploration,” she said. “Art classrooms are often inherently relational spaces, so the new courses will focus on engaging materials, social and cultural differences, and fostering differentiation and inclusion for all members of any given art learning community.”