Professor Stephen DiRado

If you take one of Clark Arts professor Stephen DiRado's photography courses, you just might find yourself helping to teach the next generation of DiRado's photography students. DiRado, who calls upon his former students to provide "outside critiques" of his students' work in his Introductory and Advanced Photography courses says alumni "play a huge role as a future face on our present students." Here, he discusses the role of alumni in his teaching.

I really think it is imperative to have an alumni connection when it comes to teaching. I’ve been teaching Introductory and Advanced photography classes for over 22 years. The technology used to make the photographs has changed over time but the forum in the way we critique them has been a constant. A large part of the success is due to the valuable input from alumni and professional artists who help participate in these critiques.

On a weekly basis students present their latest accomplishments. Their audience along with fellow students (and with my guidance), includes a vast list of guest participants: recent alumni and alumni who have gone on in the field are top of the list. Others include art professionals, students from other institutions, and at times their professors. All enrich the experience adding so much more to each critique.

Alumni involvement is a constant in my classes. I encourage them to join a round table discussion, share their talents with the students. In return the students appreciate their time and alumni have the opportunity to give back something of great value to Clark, their wisdom attained by working in the field.

Involving Clark Arts alumni in current Clark courses goes beyond bringing in alumni input for my own photography students. I’m always cultivating alumni to find time to come visit classes and work with small groups of students in humanities courses as well. The best learning happens when we can create an environment conducive to the greatest exchange of ideas and wisdom between our students and our alumni.

Sometimes those alumni connections enable our students to foster friendships with professional artists all over the country and obtain internships or even permanent employment. A number of our former art students have organized professional critique groups that carry on what they learned here at Clark -- and some alumni have even come back to Clark to challenge conventional thinking in the arts. I always welcome that!