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College of Arts and Humanities

Ahran Koo

Associate Professor

Art, Design, and Art History | 559.278.1270 | Office: CA 235

akoo@csufresno.edu

Education

  • The Ohio State University - Ph.D. in Arts Administration, Education and Policy
  • University of Florida - M.A. in Art Education
  • Ewha Womans University, Seoul, Korea - M.F.A. in Painting
  • Ewha Womans University, Seoul, Korea - B.F.A. in Painting  

Courses Taught

  • ART 177S Community Crafts Workshop
  • ART 179 Development of Artistic Expression
  • CI 161 Methods and Materials in Secondary Art Teaching
  • EHD 154B Seminar in Final Student Teaching
  • EHD 155B Final Student Teaching

Dr. Ahran Koo is an Associate Professor of Art Education at California State University, Fresno. As an artist and art educator, she promotes the efficacy of art to address cultural and social awareness. Locally and globally, she focuses on community art and critical multiculturalism, encourages interdisciplinary collaboration through social engagement, and advocates culturally responsive/sustaining pedagogy.

Her research and teaching expertise include: community art; visual storying; art-based research; digital narrative; critical multiculturalism; and participatory action research. She has taught art at all levels, K-Higher Education, in USA, South Korea, The Philippines, China, Russia, and Peru. She has also exhibited her artworks including painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, and installation for twenty years.

Dr. Koo has published numerous books, peer-reviewed journals, and book chapters in the most prominent journals and publishers in the field such as Studies in Art Education, Routledge, and International Society for Education through Art publication. She is the recipient of distinguished national and international awards, grants, and scholarships recognizing her scholarly and community engaged works such as National Art Education Association’s Pacific Region Higher Education Art Educator Award, Albert Schweitzer fellowship, California Humanities and National Endowment for Humanities Grant, National Art Education Foundation Research Grants, National Art Education Association’s Pacific Region Higher Education Art Educator Award and Mary Rouse Award, and Barbara & Sheldon Pinchuk Arts Community Outreach Grant.

Her professional service includes working as a President of Asian Faculty and Staff Association (AFSA) at Fresno State and an Executive Committee of Committee on Multiethnic Concerns, Asian Art and Cultural Interest Group, and Coalition for Feminisms in Art Education special interest groups of NAEA, and serving on the review panels and journal editorial boards for AERA, NAEA, and InSEA.

Dr. Koo received PhD in Arts Administration, Education and Policy from The Ohio State University; MA in Art Education from University of Florida; MFA and BFA in Korean Painting from Ewha Womans University in Seoul, Korea.
Art & Visual Culture Education

  • Identity and Visual Culture
  • Community-Based Art
  • Artificial Intelligence in Art Education
  • Contemporary Art and Art Education
  • Mental Health and Wellbeing in Art Education
  • Art and Technologies in Education

Research & Practical Framework
  • Visual Storying & Arts-Based Research
  • Minority Experiences and Stories (Asian Immigrant & Asian American Studies)
  • Belonging Pedagogy
  • Critical Multiculturalism
  • Culturally Responsive/Sustaining Pedagogy
  • Critical Theory (Asian Crit)
  • Female/Mother Scholarship in Higher Education
  • Participatory Action Research
  • Service-Learning
  • Digital Narratives & Narrative Inquiry
  • Collaborative Autoethnography
  • Community Outreach and Engagement
  • Diversity, Social Justice, and Equity
  • Globalization and Educational Leadership
Selected Publications

Koo, A. & Song, B. (accepted). Exploring Privacy, Data Painting, and Hidden Biases: Lessons from Contemporary Artists for AI Use in Art Education. Art Education
Song, B., Chang, E., Lee, O., & Koo, A. (in press). Thriving Together in a Writing Group: Support Community Building of Four Asian American Art Educators. Stress and Coping Among Minoritized Educators. Information Age Publishing.
Kwon, H. & Koo, A. (in press). Happily Even After: Tales of Korean Immigrant Motherscholars. Transformative Motherscholarship in Art: Public Pedagogies of Childhood. Bloomsbury.
Chang, E., Shin, R., & Koo, A. (in press). Leveraging the Power of Arts for Students’ Mental Health and its Needs. Restorative Practices in Education Through Art. Davis publication.
Koo, A. & Song, B. (2024). Belonging Together Through Art: Reconstructing Connections by Deconstructing Stories. Multicultural Perspectives, 26(1). pp. 62-74.
Shin, R., Lim, M., *Koo, A., Hsieh, K., Gu, M., & Bae, J. (2024). A Critical Discourse on Asian American Stereotypes and Pedagogical Strategies against Anti-Asian Racism. Journal of Social Theory in Art Education, 43. The Journal of Social Theory in Art Education, 43. pp. 17-32 *Alphabetical ordering.
Koo, A. (2024). Inside and Outside: Navigating through Cultural Transition and Identity Hybridity. Learning Through Art: The Intersectionality of Critical Identities in Art Education. InSEA publication. pp. 23-38.
Koo, A., Lim, K., & Song, B. (2024). Belonging Pedagogy: Revisiting Identity, Culture, and Difference. Studies in Art Education, 65(1), pp. 63-80.
Ryu, J., Koo, A., Kim, S., Kim, H., Son, J., Shin, S., Ahn, J., Lee, S., Lee, E., Lee, J., Chang, Y., & Chung, O. (2024). Future Education Art Education. Kyoyookgwahaksa.
Koo, A. (2024). Digital Narrative as Social Practice. Future Education Art Education: Digital Online Media Vlog. Kyoyookgwahaksa. pp. 141-161.
Koo, A. (2023). Trends in the Use of Digital Technology and Artificial Intelligence in the Field of Culture & Arts Education in the USA. International Arts and Culture Education 2023(2), pp. 14-19.
Koo, A. (2023). AI or not AI: The Perspectives of Artificial Intelligence from Contemporary Artists and its Implications in Art Education. 2023 Korean Society for Education Through Art International Conference Proceedings. Korean Society for Education through Art. pp. 18-30.
Shin, R., Lee, O., *Koo, A., & Hsieh, K., Gu, M. (2023). Art and Visual Intervention Strategies to Resist Racism and Racial Stereotypes. Journal of Cultural Research in Art Education, 40(1). National Art Education Association. pp. 171-188. *Alphabetical ordering.
Koo, A. (2023). Telling Stories through Art: Remapping, Retelling, and Reconstructing Histories. Teaching South/Southeast Asian art: Multiethnicity, Cross-Racial Interaction, and Nationalism (pp. 211-229). Palgrave Macmillan.
Koo, A. (2023). Korean Immigrant’s Identity Exploration with Visual Storying. Counternarratives from Asian American Art Educators: Identities, Pedagogies, and Practice beyond the Western Paradigm. Routledge. pp. 36-44.
Shin, R., Bae, J., Gu, M., Hsieh, K., *Koo, A., Lee, O., & Lim, M. (2022). Asian Critical Theory and Counter-Narratives of Asian American Art Educators in the U. S. Higher Education. Studies in Art Education, 63(4), National Art Education Association. pp. 313-329. *Alphabetical ordering.
Song, B. & Koo, A. (2022). Paradigm Shift: Artificial Intelligence, Contemporary Art, and Implications for Gifted Arts Education. Journal of Gifted Education in Arts, 8, pp. 71-104.
Koo, A. (2022). Development of Artificial Intelligence and Changes in Arts and Culture Education. International Arts and Culture Education 2022(2), p. 8-11.
Koo, A. (2022). Learning Through Collaboration: A Mural Project with Disability Students. Learning Through Art: International Pictures of Practice (pp. 432-439). InSEA publication.
Koo, A. (2022). Exploring Visual Narratives of Self and Society via Chinese Contemporary Art in China. Teaching Chinese Arts and Culture: Context, Content, and Pedagogy (pp. 287-302). InSEA publication.
Koo, A. (2021). Socially Engaged Digital Narrative: Contexts and Applications in the United States. 2021 Korea Art Education Association Research Conference Proceedings. Korean Art Education Association. pp. 43-47.
Koo, A. (2019). Sense of Belonging: Insider vs. Outsider. InSEA 2019 World Congress Proceedings. InSEA publication. pp. 434-439.
Koo, A. (2015). Inside and Outside: High School Students Increasing Self and Social Awareness through Artmaking, IMAG, 1(1), InSEA publication. pp. 107-118.
Koo, A. (2015). Art and Education for Underprivileged People: Community-based Art Projects Case Study, Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 174, p. 64-68.
Koo, A. (2013). Learning through Service-Learning Art Program, Korean Art Education, 27, pp. 256-263.
Oh, J. & Koo, A. (2009). Arts and Life 21-34. In Air and Correspondence High School Comprehensive Workbook 2-2, 6 (pp. 107-117). Korean Educational Development Institute.
Koo, A. & Oh, J. (2009). Arts 10-17. In Air and Correspondence High School Comprehensive Workbook 1-2, 8 (pp. 147-153). Korean Educational Development Institute.
Oh, J. & Koo, A. (2009). Arts and Life 1-20. In Air and Correspondence High School Comprehensive Workbook 2-1, 5. Korean Educational Development Institute.
Koo, A. & Oh, J. (2009). Arts 1-9. In Air and Correspondence High School Comprehensive Workbook 1-1, 7 (pp. 157-164). Korean Educational Development Institute.


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