Rachel Fendler received her B.A. in Art History from Smith College, before moving to Spain for graduate school. At the University of Barcelona she earned her M.A. in Visual Studies and is currently completing her Ph.D. in Visual Arts and Education. While in Barcelona, she collaborated with the art academy Llotja Advanced School of Art and Design, teaching and providing professional development to the faculty. She also developed projects with institutions such as the Joan Miró Foundation and the Young Artist’s Gallery (Sala Jove) as an art educator. Rachel is a reviewer for the International Journal of Education Through Art and is on the scientific committee for the annual conference Arts-based and Artistic Research. She has published on topics related to youth visual culture, arts-based research and educational ethnography, in both English and Spanish.
Education
B.A. in Art History, Smith College (Massachusetts, USA)
M.A. in Visual Studies, University of Barcelona (Spain)
Ph.D. (September 2015) in Visual Arts and Education, University of Barcelona (Spain)
Research Areas
Critical theory, visual culture, youth studies, learning mobilities, nonformal learning, collaborative research, qualitative inquiry, arts-based and arts informed research methodologies
Recent Publications
- Fendler, R. & Miño Puigcercós, R. (accepted, October 2015). Reimagining educational boundaries: a learning mobilities perspective. International Journal for Research on Extended Education.
- Fendler, R. & Hernández-Hernández, F. (2015). Visual culture as living inquiry: looking at how young people reflect on, share and narrate their learning practices in and outside school. In, I. Aguirre (Ed.), mor thN img cnsmrs: Mapping and evaluating research on Young people as Visual Culture Producers, pp: 281-297. Pamplona: Public University of Navarra.
- Vidiella, J., Fendler, R., & Delgado García, J.A. (Eds.). (2015). Col·lectivaccions: Reconstructing pedagogical relationships based on artistic practices. [Col·lectivaccions: re-construint relacions pedagògiques des de la pràctica artística]. Barcelona: Institut de Cultura. [Bilingual publication in Catalan and Spanish].
- Fendler, R. (2013). Becoming-learner. Coordinates for mapping the space and subject of nomadic pedagogy. Qualitative Inquiry 19 (10): 786-793.
- Fendler, R., Onsès, J. & Hernández-Hernández, F. (2013). Becoming arts-based researchers. A journey through the experience of silence in the university classroom. International Journal of Education through Art 9 (2):257- 263.
Active projects & links
Col·lectivaccions – an incitiative dedicated to expanding the opportunities for art education in Barcelona, across schools, cultural centres, and public institutions.
Pedagogies de fricció – an art mediation program for the Lesson 0 cycle in Espai 13 – Joan Miró Foundation.
Esbrina, Contemporary subjectivities, visualities and educational environments – educational research at the University of Barcelona.