Contents of Blog

My name is Melanie Fiander and I am one of the Senior Full Time Faculty members in the Photography Department at The Art Institute of Pittsburgh Online Division.  Although our school is based out of Pennsylvania, I'm located in Washington D.C.  In the past, I have taught as an adjunct professor at The Art Institute of Washington in Virginia, Southern Maine Community College in Maine, and McIntosh College in New Hampshire.  

This blog is intended to host my teaching portfolio and also connect you to my personal photography and video work. Please feel free to use the links to the right to navigate! I have also included links to my "Inside the Classroom" blog where you can see examples of my student's work, read their comments and see how I generally run a classroom.  

Below are the different blog posts titles, listed in bold, and a synopsis of the posts contents. 

Below you will read my Online Teaching Philosophy.  My philosophy has been shaped by Paulo Freire's Pedagogy of the Oppressed.  In short, I believe that education can either be used as a means to inform the student body of the “present system and bring about conformity” or education can be used as an instrument that facilitates the “practice of freedom”. 

The second post is related to my Department Service.  The service projects that I have done for our Photography Department are listed below: the blog I write for PSPN, Photography Lecture Series, and Personal Artist Talk.

 

As a Senior Full Time Faculty Member, I have actively participated in different Committees, Focus Groups and Meetings.  Information regarding these can be seen below as well.  

If you continue to scroll further down the blog, you will read about the Curriculum Review that I participated in as well as the Content Alerts I have written. 

On a number of occasions, I have participated in Portfolio Reviews for our BA, AA and Certificate programs.

In order to succeed as an online professor, it is vital to stay up to date with the school's program and what the Art Institute of Pittsburgh has to offer.  Over the last year, I have attended multiple Faculty Development sessions and conferences offered both inside and outside of the school. 

At the end of the blog, I have also attached an updated Curriculum Vitae.  

Online Teaching Philosphy

In Paulo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed, he states that education can function in one of two ways.  Education can either be used as a means to inform the student body of the “present system and bring about conformity” or education can be used as an instrument that facilitates the “practice of freedom”.  By presenting education as the latter option, it prepares future graduates as critical and creative thinkers ready to participate within our ever-changing world.  This philosophy is extremely important, especially when teaching in the field of visual arts; a discipline which is often maligned. 

"Photojournalism Student" from The Art Institute of Washington

Freire’s two theories on education can still be seen in the world of academia.  The fact remains for both schools of thought: education is a tool that can never be stolen once earned.  No matter what the student’s gender, race or age, once he or she obtains any source of knowledge; this belongs to him or her forever.  Ultimately, it is then up to each student to decide which of Freire’s avenues to pursue; conformity or a more creative approach. Either avenue remains with the student forever; a precious gift.

Department Service Projects

First Years Focus and Fire Photography Blog:

I am the author of one of the blogs associated with the Photography Student Professional Network (PSPN) Community, the First Years Focus and Fire blog.  This blog is intended for our AiP Online students.  Three posts are written per week: "Make It" Mondays, "Website" Wednesdays and "Pho·Tog" Fridays.

The "Make it Monday" posts pertain to tips and tricks that student can use inside the classroom as well as within their freelance business.  Some of the topics for "Make it Mondays" have been: 

How to Create a Contact Sheet
How to Photograph a Still Life
Understanding Depth of Field and Focal Length
Exposure and White Balance Tutorials
Studio and Strobe Lighting Tutorials
How to Watermark Images
Sports Photography
Navigate Adobe's Creative Cloud
Understanding Cloud Storage
HDR Techniques

My "Website Wednesday" posts are dedicated to introducing students to new websites, podcasts and apps that can assist them inside and outside of the classroom.  Some of the websites that I have featured are ones hosted by AiP Online and others are outside sources.  A few of the websites I have featured are: 

Wix.com
Magnum Photo Agency
Underwater Photography Guide
AllYou.net
Photography Student Professional Network
Connections
Second Life Photography Gallery
Snapseed App
Purdue Online Writing Lab
Photography Podcasts Featured on iTunes
DP Review
B&H.com 

The final post of the week, "Pho·tog Friday" is dedicated to introducing students to historic and contemporary photographers.  If students are introduced to "new" photographers on a weekly basis, then they are bound to expand their knowledge of photography in general as well as their creativity within their on work.  With a few of the photographers whom I have written about, I've split the information about them into multiple posts.  To name a few of the photographers who I have covered in my posts, please read below:

Henri Cartier-Bresson (V Part Series)
Sally Mann (III Part Series)
Hiroshi Sugimoto
Carrie Mae Weems
W. Eugene Smith
Debbie Fleming Caffery
Thatcher Cook (Guest Speaker at AiP Online)
Elizabeth Claffey (Guest Speaker at AiP Online)
Neal Menschel (Guest Speaker at AiP Online)
Todd Hido
Garry Winogrand
Conor Tourmarkine (Upcoming Guest Speaker at AiP Online)
Annie Leibovitz
Julius Shulman
Cindy Sherman

Photography Lecture Series  

At the start of my Senior Full Time Faculty position, I was asked to develop a "Photography Lecture Series".  The photography lectures are designed to introduce students and faculty to contemporary photographers who specialize in different categories such as: photojournalism, multi-media, documentary, wedding, portrait, fashion, food photography, etc.  Each photographer speaks about his or her own work, their business plan as well as the ethics behind capturing their images.  

Cook, Thatcher, Kyrgystan Coal Miner, 2008.

Committees, Focus Groups & Meetings

As a Senior Full Time Faculty Member, I am enrolled and have participated in the following committees, focus groups and meetings: 

Enrollment & Retention Committee

This committee strives to increase persistence of students in all low retention courses, especially in key targets: G150PH, PH123, PH124, PH133, PH134, PH326 and PH333.  We develop new methods of teaching and structure to bring into the classrooms.  One of our newest and latest requirements that emerged from this committee is the need for professors to provide a video introduction to their students.  This helps students "put a name to a face" and allows the students to feel as though they are more connected to the classroom.  Below is one of the video tutorials that I use in my class: 

Student Mentoring Committee

This committee strives to increase the level of participation of our students both in and out of the classrooms.  Our goal is to create an online setting where students can interact freely with each other as well as with faculty.  Throughout our meetings, we have developed the Photography Student Professional Network and several blogs:

• First Years Focus and Fire
• The Blog of Professor Phillips
• Student Ambassadors Blog

I am the author of First Years Focus and Fire.  My blog is intended for the use of students who are new to the program.  Please feel free to use the navigational link to the right for details.

Full Time Faculty Search Committee

In November, our department was seeking two new Full Time Faculty Members. I was asked to be on the Search Committee which helped with this process.  I was also asked to lead the interviews of the top candidates.  In order to prepare for the interview, I looked over the candidates resumes, personal websites, cover letters and any additional material s/he had submitted.  We conducted seven interviews over two days and on the third day, those within this committee met to discuss the results.

This was a great committee to participate in not only because I was able to have a say in who was hired next but also because it gave me a stronger understanding of the photography department's goals and structure.  As a result of our committee, I believe we chose the two strongest candidates who will inevitably enhance our department.

Curriculum Review & Content Alerts

Several of my colleges and I have been working since the beginning of the year on making revisions to the assignments within "PH124: Digital Image Management".   This course is an introduction to the basics of digital photographic post-production.  Students become acquainted with the terms, concepts and processes of photographic editing.  The assignments are shared through Dropbox and each instructor makes his or her corrections using the "comment" feature in Microsoft Word.
  

I have also submitted a number of "Content Alerts" for the courses that I've taught: PH123, PH136, PH309, PH331 and PH350.  The changes that I have suggested within these content alerts help to maintain the classes and ensure that our students are receiving clear and up to date information.

Portfolio Reviews

Upon being hired as a Senior Full Time Faculty Member, I have participated in multiple BS, AA and Certificate Portfolio Assessments within our Photography Department.  We have accessed the portfolios in different ways in order to review them: via Sharepoint or Teamwork.edmc.edu.  Scores are usually submitted through a Google Doc:

Faculty Development

In order to succeed as an online professor, it is vital to stay up to date with the school's program and what the Art Institute of Pittsburgh has to offer.  Over the last year, I have attended multiple faculty development sessions and conferences offered both inside and outside of the school. Certificates for attendance purposes available upon request:

 
Faculty Development Meeting with Mary (4.1.14)
 Faculty Development Meeting with Effi (1.2914)
 Teaching in the Wake of Tragedy (01.24.14)
 Community of Inquiry Model (01.21.14)
Records Management EDMC Training (12.13.13)
 Developing as a Faculty Member (11.06.13)
On Location Photography - Recent Travels & Exploration of Still, TBM and Audio Capture with Ellyn Norris (10.7.13) 
Focus Group Meeting with Traeton Garl (08.29.13)
Student Resources (08.13.13)
Rubrics I (08.05.13)
Introduction to Grading Rubrics (08.05.13)
Safety and Boundaries in the Online Classroom (06.06.13)
Faculty and Student Commons (06.05.13)
Online Faculty Conference (06.04-06.13)

Cool, Fast Screencasting with Quicktime and iMovie on a Mac and saving on Vimeo
Skype - best practices, how to use Skype in a practical sense?
Web Strategies-- Social Media and Building Community
Are You on Auto-Pilot?
The Marriage of Research and Practice: Being a Scholar is a Life Long Commitment
Conference Close

Curriculum Vitae

EDUCATION:

M.F.A, Maine College of Art, Portland ME, 2007; Studio Concentration: Video and Photography

Salt Institute for Documentary Studies, Portland ME, Spring 2005; Concentration: Documentary Photography

B.A., Studio Arts/Photography, Major. English/Creative Writing, Major. Lynchburg College, Lynchburg, VA, 2004

Georgetown University, Washington D.C., Summer 2004, Fall 2004

The Corcoran School of Art and Design, Washington D.C., Summer 2003, Fall 2004

Bishop O’Connell High School, Arlington VA, 2000