Special Issue Released: Exploring Situatedness in Partnership with ELIA, Part 2

The second part of the special double issue of Art, Design & Communication in Higher Education, “Exploring Situatedness in Partnership with ELIA, Part 2,” builds on the foundations laid in Part 1, extending the exploration of place, context, and community in higher arts education. While Part 1 focused on insights emerging directly from the ELIA Academy 2023: Exploring Situatedness, Part 2 broadens the dialogue to include international perspectives on how arts education engages with local and global contexts.

In her editorial, Stacey Salazar frames Part 2 as a continuation and expansion of the inquiry into situatedness, highlighting how the concept can inform curriculum, pedagogy, and institutional practice across diverse settings.

• Extending the Conversation
  

Part 2 gathers contributions that examine situatedness beyond the Academy context, highlighting how programmes and educators integrate local, social, cultural, and ecological dimensions into their teaching and learning. Contributors explore a range of approaches, from community-engaged art projects to cross-border collaborations and translocal pedagogies.

• Place and Pedagogy

The issue demonstrates how environments urban, rural, post-industrial, and digital can be leveraged as active participants in the learning process. Place is treated as a pedagogical partner, shaping both the content and methods of higher arts education.

• Mobility, Networks, and Digital Spaces

Several contributions reflect on mobility, migration, and hybrid learning, expanding the notion of situatedness to include networked and digital contexts. These studies show how arts education can remain locally grounded while participating in global dialogues.

• Critical Perspectives and Futures

Part  2 challenges conventional, globalized models of arts education by foregrounding context-specific, responsive approaches. Contributors advocate for teaching and research practices that are relational, equitable, and attentive to local communities, histories, and ecologies.

• Invitation to Action

Salazar frames situatedness not merely as a descriptive concept, but as a call for reflective, place-aware practice. The issue encourages educators and institutions to consider how local and translocal contexts shape both student experience and the future of arts education.

ELIA & ADCHE Partnership

This second instalment reaffirms the ongoing collaboration between ELIA and Art, Design & Communication in Higher Education (ADCHE), continuing to provide ELIA members with research, case studies, and practical frameworks for teaching, learning, and institutional development rooted in context and community engagement.

Read both parts of the special issue here>