Photo courtesy David Chen
Inside/Out, NEXMAP’s education program, is evolving and as the new Inside/Out program director, I wanted to introduce myself to the NEXMAP community. Hi, there! I’m Jen.
The first NEXMAP event I attended back in 2007 at Recombinant Media Labs with Louis Dufort has stayed with me despite the intervening years. Not having experienced this sort of new media art before, I found it a transformative experience that prompted me to reexamine my preconceptions about music, video, sound, and art. In 2011, I worked with NEXMAP to build the Inside/Out June Jordan School for Equity Word Press site and reflection prompts to support the new media course elective.
I’ve worked in education for nearly 10 years, wearing many different hats. I’ve been a public high school teacher in San Francisco, a teacher on special assignment at SFUSD, a freelance education consultant, a program manager at the Pearson Foundation, and Engagement Programs Manager at The Walt Disney Family Museum. Working in schools, districts, museums, and small local and large national non-profit organizations has given me a nuanced perspective on how different institutions think about and support educational experiences. I have a master’s degree in Technology, Innovation, and Education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education; my time there has informed my beliefs about using research and on-going evaluation to ensure programs are meeting the needs of an organization’s stakeholders.
I’m thrilled to be working on behalf of NEXMAP to develop and support experimental, transformative creative experiences for youth. I’m easy to track down on Twitter (@Jennifer_Dick) and through the NEXMAP blog, so please reach out with your comments and questions. Stay tuned–we’ve got a lot of exciting programs in the works!