Dr. Austin Showen
Dr. Austin Showen, Assistant Professor, is Director of Music Education at Shepherd University. He is a West Virginia native and a proud alumnus of Shepherd University where he earned his Bachelor of Music Education. He also holds a Master of Music Education with Kodály certification from Capital University in Columbus, Ohio, and a Doctor of Philosophy in music education from Arizona State University.
As a music educator, Dr. Showen is passionate about building collaborative artistic communities that promote critical and creative inquiry in the arts. He has taught pre-kindergarten through graduate-level courses and community music in public school, university, healthcare, and church settings in West Virginia and Arizona. He also teaches summer Kodály certification courses at Arizona State University and frequently presents workshops for music teachers.
As a scholar, Dr. Showen focuses on the intersection of philosophy, aesthetics, and curriculum studies. He explores how our ideas about the nature of music, learning, and aesthetic experience afford and constrain possibilities for artistic-pedagogic engagement both in and outside of schools. He is also interested in promoting creative approaches to music education that incorporate popular music, composition, and contemporary forms of musicianship. Dr. Showen has presented his research at state, national, and international conferences and has published in the journal Leisure Sciences.
Dr. Austin Showen
School of Music
Shepherd University
Shepherdstown, WV 25443
304.876.5225 or 800.344.5231 ext. 5225
ashowen@shepherd.edu