Rebecca Williams
Contact
Dr. Rebecca Williams
Professor of Art Education
Department Chair
Education
- PhD, University of Georgia
- MAEd, University of Georgia
- BA, University of Louisiana at Lafayette
Expertise
- Art Education
- Curriculum and Pedagogy
- Aesthetics and Critical Response
- Teacher Preparation
- Qualitative Research
- Narrative Inquiry
Biography
Dr. Rebecca Williams is the Chair of the Department of Art & Design and the Associate Professor of Art Education at Murray State University. Dr. Williams earned her PhD and MAEd at the University of Georgia and her BA from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Prior to her graduate work, she taught high school visual arts in Louisiana, where she worked with gifted and talented students.
As the MSU Professor of Art Education, she serves as the coordinator of the Art/Art Education P-12 Certification degree tracks and the faculty advisor of the MSU NAEA Student Chapter. She has provided extensive service to the field, including coordinating the KyAEA All-State Pennyrile Purchase Regional Exhibition (2015-present), chairing the KyAEA Higher Education and Student Divisions (2015–2021), and serving as GAEA Student Chapter Sponsor (2011-2012), GAEA Student Chapter Representative (2010-2011), and UL NAEA Student Chapter President (2007-2008).
Dr. Williams’ scholarship investigates how art education fosters critical consciousness, reflective practice, and meaningful learning through innovative methods such as visual journaling and technology integration. She presents and publishes regionally, nationally, and internationally, with a focus on how teachers can nurture students’ personal agency, aesthetic engagement, and transformative meaning-making through art. View a list of Dr. Williams’ publications on Academic.edu.
Dr. Williams’ exemplary performance in these roles was recognized with the National Art Education Association’s Southeastern Art Educator of the Year Award in 2026, the Kentucky Art Education Association’s Art Educator of the Year award in 2024, and the Kentucky Art Education Association’s Higher Educator of the Year Award in 2023, and the Award for Teaching Excellence sponsored by the Murray State Board of Regents in 2018.