Jeff Horwat is an artist, teacher, and scholar from suburban Philadelphia. Prior to teaching at Indiana University South Bend, he has taught art in the public schools for five years—working with students in grades kindergarten to high school. He earned his PhD in art education from the University of Illinois, his master’s in art education from Massachusetts College of Art & Design, and his bachelors in art education from Kutztown University of Pennsylvania. Currently, Horwat is an assistant professor of fine arts where he directs the art education program.
His areas of research include arts-based research, psychoanalysis, art teacher identity, and critical pedagogy. His current research interest involves of an arts-based research method he developed called wordless narrative research. The method explores how visual storytelling can be used as a viable form of social science research to explore personal, cultural, and emotional content too nuanced for language. He has published research in scholarly journals such as Visual Arts Research and Art / Research International. He regularly presents work at academic conferences such as the National Art Education Association’s National Conference and the International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry’s annual conference. He has shown artwork in New York, Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago, Louisville, and Sacramento.