Dr. Christine Thompson

Biography

Christine Marmé Thompson is a Professor Emerita at the School of Visual Arts at Penn State University, where she coordinated graduate programs in art education. She earned her Ph.D. in art education from the University of Iowa in 1985 and taught at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign from 1985 to 2001. Her research focuses on issues related to children's culture and art learning, with particular attention to the social contexts of early childhood art. Thompson has served as co-editor with Liora Bresler for the book 'Arts Children's Lives: Context, Culture, Curriculum' (2002) and as editor for 'Visual Arts in Early Childhood Learning' (1997). She has also contributed as a section editor and contributor to the 'International Handbook of Research in Arts Education' (2007). Her writings have appeared in national and international journals related to art early childhood education and various edited collections. In recognition of her contributions, she has received several awards, including the Marilyn Zurmuehlen Award from the Seminar on Research in Art Education (1994), the Mary Rouse Award (1995), the June King McFee Award (2005) from the Women's Caucus for Art Education, and the Lowenfeld Award from the National Art Education Association in 2013. Currently, she is a co-editor for the 'International Journal of Education & the Arts'.

Research Interests