Michael J. Strand, professor of art and head of visual arts at NDSU, has been selected for the second annual Phi Kappa Phi Faculty Lectureship. He is scheduled to present “At Human Scale” Thursday, Nov. 17, at 7 p.m. in the A. Glenn Hill Center, room 112.
The lecture will be held in conjunction with the honor society's fall induction ceremony, which is scheduled for the same evening at 6:30 p.m.
“Professor Strand is clearly one of NDSU’s most distinguished faculty members and academic leaders,” said Kent Sandstrom, dean of arts, humanities and social sciences, who nominated Strand for the honor. “He is a dynamic, engaging and inspirational speaker who has much to say about the role and importance of the visual arts in the 21st century.”
Strand, who was named “2015 Ceramic Artist of the Year” by Ceramics Monthly, is a 2014-16 Bush Foundation Fellow.
“NDSU has been the perfect academic home at the perfect time in my career; I could think of no better situation or environment to grow in my scholarly and creative activities,” Strand said. “The questions that have guided my past seven years of creative and scholarly activity include: What is the potential of something as ‘every day’ as a cup to be a catalyst for cross cultural and community conversation? How can art and craft weave into existing societal systems and bring new perspectives to complex situations? Can provenance be part of a design process?”
Strand was elected to the International Academy of Ceramics, and joined the board of the American Craft Council in 2016.
He has given numerous presentations or led workshops at prestigious institutions, including the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C.; the Estonian Academy of Art; Haystack Mountain School of Crafts; Society of North American Goldsmiths’ Boston conference; The Center for Craft, Creativity and Design in Asheville, North Carolina; The Model in Sligo, Ireland; American Craft Council; University Federal San Joao Del Rei in Brazil; and Universidad Caxias Do Sul in Caxias Do Sul, Brazil.
Strand earned his bachelor’s degree in ceramics and his master’s degree in painting at St. Cloud State University. He earned his Master of Fine Arts in ceramics from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi is considered the nation's most prestigious all-discipline honor society. Membership is by invitation only to the top 7.5 percent of NDSU’s second-term juniors and the top 10 percent of seniors and graduate students. NDSU's chapter was founded in 1913 and is the 10th oldest chapter in the nation.
“Our motto is to recognize and promote academic excellence in all fields of higher education and to engage the community of scholars in service to others,” said Joe Deutsch, Phi Kappa Phi faculty advisor. “The natural connection of our induction ceremony and the lectureship is a direct correlation to our mission.”
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