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Curating success in a visual world

Kathryn Floyd, art history professor, earns Auburn’s most prestigious faculty teaching honor

Our world is dominated by images. The next generation of professionals entering the visual world will need a great teacher to help them navigate it. Kathryn Floyd, an associate professor of art history in the College of Liberal Arts' Department of Art & Art History, has received Auburn University's highest teaching honor for giving her students the right directions.

The Gerald and Emily Leischuck Endowed Presidential Award for Excellence in Teaching recognizes two faculty members each year for effective and innovative teaching methods and a continued commitment to student success through advising and mentoring.

Floyd said her teaching style is a direct result of the great teachers and mentors who influenced her.

"I think there's just no substitute for a professor that shows how much they are invested in a discipline and in students' learning. That goes so far in helping you become effective in your discipline," Floyd said. "It’s a balance of rigor and high expectations with a kind of generosity for different kinds of learning and for understanding the point of view of the student."

Floyd teaches Introduction to Art History, Honors Introduction to Art History, Foundations of Art History II, Twentieth-Century Art I and II, History of Photography, Arts of Africa, and the Seminar in Modern and Contemporary Art. She was key to shaping the art history curriculum and has served as affiliate faculty for the African American and Africana Studies program.

Her assignments include researching historical photographical material for exhibitions, accessioning (the process of preparing objects for archive, museum or library collections), analyzing historical influences on modern photography, exhibition reviews mapping how collections relate to their environment and field trips to museums and art galleries.

Floyd focuses on helping students understand how visual information influences all aspects of our lives, from personal and aesthetic preferences to social and political decisions. She also trains students in research, innovation, collaboration and critical thinking.

With each student, she encourages them to be adaptable and forge their own path.

"You can use the skills you learn in art history and become better in whatever it is that you're doing, or at least understand the way visual data is used in your discipline," Floyd said. "For people who are inclined to major or minor in art history, I take care to talk with those students about what it would mean to put a career together after you complete an art history major or minor."

Floyd's students recommend her because of her one-on-one mentoring and commitment to their individual success. Alumni of her classes have gone on to graduate programs from Boston University to the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, and taken full-time positions at museums and art galleries across the country.

While students are still enrolled at Auburn, she also supports their independent research projects, prepares them to speak at conferences and exhibits their creative work.

Cultivating that student success has also earned Floyd recognition through the Honors College Honor Your Teaching Fellowship, Harry M. Philpott Endowment for the Humanities Grant, Provost’s Award for Faculty Excellence in Undergraduate Research Mentoring, College of Liberal Arts Advising Award, College of Liberal Arts Teaching Excellence Award and SGA Outstanding Faculty Member Award.

Floyd said this latest honor encourages her to continue going the extra mile for her students.

"It makes me want to keep going and make sure that I remain at that level," Floyd said. "One thing I would never want to do is become complacent about how I teach. There are so many things that are changing right now about education, especially with technology, so this really drives me to continue to see excellent teaching as a practice that I will keep up."

In spring 2025, Floyd will teach a seminar on the history of art exhibitions, of which she is an authority. She has published several peer-reviewed articles and book chapters on the history of exhibitions, delivered dozens of presentations covering various exhibition topics and curated "Power & Beauty: Women in African Art from the Donald and Kaye Kole Collection" at Troy University’s Rosa Parks Museum.

Floyd also hopes to help initiate a visual literacy working group placing art history at the forefront of answering questions about artificial intelligence (AI) generated art. She believes that the lessons found in the study of art history, paired with the lived experience of students who encounter AI-generated art in their daily lives, will help everyone navigate the new technology.

This fall, Floyd will be recognized as one of two 2024 Gerald and Emily Leischuck Endowed Presidential Award for Excellence in Teaching. She said she was pleasantly surprised to receive Auburn's highest teaching honor and humbled to be counted among the honorees.

"What Dr. Leischuck and his late wife achieved by putting this award together is so honorable," Floyd said. "Their dedication to furthering education at Auburn is humbling, and I truly appreciate the support that the University gives to this important part of our duties as faculty members."

Tags: Art and Art History Faculty