Dr. Jake Watts

Job title:

Lecturer in Contemporary Art Theory

Role:

Programme Director of BA (Hons) Fine Art

jake.watts@ed.ac.uk

Office:

E27B, Main Building

Research Output:

Edinburgh Research Explorer link

Biography

Dr. Jake Watts (he/him) is an artist and educator who specialises in the philosophy, theories, histories, and practices of art education and related artistic forms of learning.

Jake graduated from Coventry University with a BA(Hons) in Fine art in 2011, then from the University of Edinburgh with an MFA in Contemporary Art Theory in 2014, and again in 2020 with his practice-led PhD on 'Workshops: Investigating Participatory Environments for Artistic Learning'. Jake was also been a committee member of Embassy Gallery in Edinburgh and is a current member of Shift/Work.

Research interests

Art Education
Artistic Learning
Open Education Resources and Approaches
Art Education Histories
Paragogy

Teaching

Jake has taught at Edinburgh College of Art for over ten years, across the School of Art's undergraduate and postgraduate programmes; teaching into courses with focuses on visual culture, art context and theory, and studio-based learning.

Jake is currently the Programme Director for the BA(Hons) Fine Art and has previously been Acting Programme Director for the MA in Contemporary Art Theory. He is Course Organiser for Art in Process: Ways of Thinking, Making, Working Together and supports course organisation and teaches into courses across the Art in Context, Art in Practice and Art in Public strands of the BA(Hons) Fine Art programme. He has quality assurance and assessment practice responsibilities on the BA(Hons) Fine Art degree and is an external examiner at institutions in England and Scotland.