Hello! My name is Dr. Laticia Hequembourg. I am new to the South Bend area and greatly look forward to learning and growing within the IUSB community. Prior to my position at IUSB, I worked as a graduate-level instructor for The Art of Education University. I taught Capstone and Mission of teaching courses, instructional practices, and assessment in the visual arts for art teachers pursuing a master's degree in art education. I also taught studio courses, including drawing and watercolor painting. I spent the 2018-2020 of my art teaching career working for an arts progressive international school in Beijing, China. I taught visual art studies and practices to multi-aged classrooms. The arts program was highly regarded and incorporated throughout many aspects of the school, including immersive bilingual approaches to education in both English and Mandarin Chinese. This experience afforded me the opportunity to learn from a vast and diverse array of cultural approaches to both education and art making. I was granted the incredible opportunity to learn traditional Chinese landscape painting at the highly influential Yon Young Gallery in Beijing. I have also spent much of my holiday time traveling throughout Asia and familiarizing myself with the culture and art firsthand.
I received my Ph.D. in education from Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama. I have worked closely with the implementation of creative curriculum design and innovative framework development. My doctoral coursework particularly highlighted arts-based qualitative research design with a concentration on exploring the creative process. My research is focused on further investigating and writing about the complex human phenomenon of creativity, creative theory, and aesthetic awareness. I hold an MEd in art education from Saint Michael's College in Colchester, Vermont. My thesis work involved narrative research and the benefits of arts-inclusive classrooms. I also hold a BA in studio art with an art education certification from The State University of New York.
I have taught part-time at the collegiate level as an adjunct professor in the fine art department at Alabama A and M University and Calhoun Community College, Huntsville, Alabama. I taught a combination of studio, lecture, and hybrid classes in art education, art appreciation, drawing, figure drawing, and illustration. I have worked extensively on arts education, community outreach, and student-centered organized art projects. The majority of my art teaching career has been in K-12 art teaching settings in various cultural and socioeconomic surroundings. I consider art education to be my life's work and great passion. I greatly look forward to teaching and learning from all of my students.