Associate Professor of Visual and Performing Arts Abbey Ryan ’03—recently appointed as Arcadia’s coordinator of Visual Literacy—presented at the 51st annual Conference of the International Visual Literacy Association (IVLA) in Leuven, Belgium, from Oct. 16 to 19. The event was hosted by M–Museum Leuven and KU Leuven, in coordination with the European Network for Visual Literacy and the International Society for Education Through Art. 

Aligned with the conference theme, “Navigating the Visual: Crossing the Boundaries of Theories and Practices,” Ryan discussed visual literacy as an intellectual practice, using Arcadia’s Undergraduate Curriculum as a model. 

“I’m grateful to all of the Arcadia faculty who shared information with me about the Visual Literacy courses they teach in various disciplines across the curriculum, including Art, Art History, Theatre, Religion, Media and Communication, Mathematics, Sociology, Biology, Spanish, University Seminars, Education, and Global Field Studies,” said Ryan. “I’m also grateful to the Office of Graduate and Undergraduate Studies for supporting this conference presentation.” 

While abroad, Ryan was also able to conduct painting research in her field of classical still life at the Louvre in Paris, France, and the Mauritshuis in The Hague, Netherlands.