Vignettes V: Traveling Companions

Natasha S. Reid and Patricia J. Spafford

The transition from doctoral studies to the life of a new faculty member can be overwhelming, leaving little time for deep personal reflection, creative endeavors, and the continuation of supportive friendships from one’s recent alma mater. We are two new art education professors who began our friendship during our doctoral studies in Art Education at Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Soon after completing our doctoral studies, we obtained tenure-track assistant professorships in the United States—at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and the University of Arizona. In order to support each other during our passage across professional, emotional, cultural, and geographic borders, we decided to embark upon a collaborative arts-based self-study.