Rate My Professor Caitlin Black

Caitlin M. Black is an assistant professor in the Department of Teaching + Learning in Art + Design at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) in Providence, Rhode Island. A visual arts and design educator, she possesses diverse professional experience in museum, community, and K-12 classroom environments. Black holds a BA with a major in studio art and minor in art history from James Madison University, an MA in art education from Boston University, and a PhD in education with an emphasis in art education from Virginia Commonwealth University. Prior to RISD, she served as an adjunct instructor teaching undergraduate and graduate art education courses at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia, and Rhode Island College in Providence, Rhode Island. For nearly a decade, Black taught visual arts in public schools to students from PreK through grade 12 in New Jersey and California. She also worked at the Philadelphia Museum of Art in various capacities.

Black's academic interests center on the transformational potential of arts and design education to build inclusive communities, highlighting community engagement and accessibility to foster empathy, interpersonal connection, emotional healing, and social justice. Her scholarly work has appeared in prominent peer-reviewed outlets including Studies in Art Education, Journal of Social Theory in Art Education, and Art Education. Key publications comprise her book review of Public Art and the Fragility of Democracy in Studies in Art Education (2022, 63(3), 275–280); “Monumental Impact,” honoring the legacy of Dr. F. Graeme Chalmers, in Journal of Social Theory in Art Education (2023, 42); co-authored with Beth Link, “Learning to Listen to the Pit in Our Stomachs: A Call for Vulnerability in Art Education” in Art Education (2024); and, with Courtnie N. Wolfgang, a chapter in Restorative Practices in Education through the Arts (Davis, ed., 2025). Black contributes to the field as a member of the review board for Journal of Social Theory in Art Education (2024–2026). At RISD, she coordinated the 2024 Graduate Show for her department, presented “Public Art as Pedagogy” at the Humanities Forum, and was awarded the Conference & Presentation Fund in 2025.