The STEM acronym has become familiar to many since its introduction in 2001. Now, it is evolving, with the most recent term, ‘STEAM’, also incorporating art. In this post, we profile Dr. Koshi Dhingra, a forefront pioneer in linking STEM subjects with art, and her non-profit: talkSTEM.

With over 30 years of experience in STEM research and education, Dhingra is passionate about letting every child — especially girls and underrepresented youth — access STEM resources. This directly inspired her to found talkSTEM in 2015, which has since become a powerhouse of free material for educators.

As part of talkSTEM, children and students get the chance to have “outside the textbook” STEM mindset experiences with the walkSTEM project, often in connection with art.

Developed by Dr. Dhingra and her partner Dr. Glen Whitney, founder of the National Museum of Mathematics, walkSTEM is a framework for place- or concept-based tours with the aim of seeing the world through the lens of STEM. The talkSTEM and walkSTEM resources are easily accessible and adaptable for a range of ages, places and interests.

In the following video, Dr. Dhingra introduces the talkSTEM YouTube channel, where participants can find hundreds of videos focused on STEM topics.

In the video below, you can view the introduction to a walkSTEM tour by Dr. Whitney in the Dallas Arts District.

The inclusion of art with science, technology, engineering, and math is an exciting development, evident across talkSTEM resources such as:

• This video playlist containing 26 short videos focused on art and math using walkSTEM methods. 
• This page containing the Create Your Own walkSTEM framework (click on the appropriate colorful tile for museums).

At Slow Art Day HQ we recently took part in a video call together with Drs. Koshi Dhingra and Paul Fishwick, Distinguished University Chair of Arts, Technology, and Emerging Communication; Professor of Computer Science at the University of Texas at Dallas, both of whom have great STEAM projects in store for the Dallas area. We are excited to be in discussion with these great minds on the connection between STEM and art, and see clear links to the Slow Art Day aim of getting more people discover the joy of looking at art in new ways.

We have loved learning more about art through a STEM lens, and will keep following talkSTEM’s development.

– Johanna and Phil

Further links: local and state-wide press releases about talkSTEM.