ABSTRACT
My experiences of living in Taiwan and later in the United States have enlightened me on how institutes and contexts shape an individual’s worldview, identity, and approach to art appreciation. This chapter presents the development of my cultural and professional identity as a foreign-born Taiwanese–Chinese art educator in the US higher education system. My journey has evolved in four stages: (1) adoring Western art and culture, (2) cherishing my cultural roots, (3) facing cross-cultural challenges as an Asian immigrant, and (4) advocating an inclusive classroom. This autoethnography depicts how I realized educational institutions could play an influential role in shaping an individual’s worldview and artistic preferences and how I learned to dismantle the impacts of racism, classism, and cultural colonization on my perspectives of other cultures and my own. In addition to the ongoing identity shaping process, this chapter highlights my reflections on the complexity of US society and the pedagogical strategies I have employed to cultivate a culturally inclusive learning environment.
