Educators from all disciplines, administrators and PTA representatives from across Long Island will meet at Tilles Center for the Performing Arts on the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University on Tuesday, November 5, for the seventh annual "The Balanced Mind" conference. There they will discuss and explore methods and techniques in art education and the use of arts to enhance and improve general curriculum.

"The Balanced Mind VII" will feature a keynote address by Elliot W. Eisner, the Lee Jacks Professor of Education and Professor of Art at Stanford University in Stanford, California. Dr. Eisner, author of the recently published book "The Arts and the Creation of Mind," is widely considered the leading theorist on art education and aesthetics in the United States.

Dr. Eisner was trained as a painter at the Art Institute of Chicago and studied design and art education at the Institute of Design at the Illinois Institute of Technology. He received a Ph.D. in education from the University of Chicago.

Dr. Eisner has been especially active in advancing the role of the arts in American education and in using the arts as a model for improving educational practice in other fields. He is the author or editor of 15 books addressing these topics, among them "Educating Artistic Vision," "The Educational Imagination," "The Enlightened Eye," "Cognition and Curriculum," and "The Kind of Schools We Need." He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Art in the United Kingdom, the Royal Norwegian Society of Arts and Sciences and in the United States, the National Academy of Education.

He has won wide recognition for his work both in the U.S. and abroad and has served as the President of the National Art Education Association, the International Society for Education Through Art, the American Educational Research Association and the John Dewey Society.

"The Balanced Mind" conference will feature workshops taught by Long Island educators and artists who have successfully developed programs that incorporate the learning standards for the arts across all areas of study. Conference participants will choose from approximately 40 sessions including "The Museum as a Classroom," "Dance as a Force Behind an Integrated Curriculum," "Cross Disciplinary Connections in the English Language Arts Classroom," "Music in Our Lives," "Enhancing Curriculum Through Theatre," and many more. The conference will conclude with performances by students from the Manhasset High School Theatre Program, the Holy Trinity High School Dance Program, and the Jazz Ensemble from Herricks High School.

In addition to presenting "The Balanced Mind" keynote speech, Dr. Eisner will host a separate discussion meeting with C.W. Post graduate students majoring in education, under the auspices of the Rose Tilles Lectures.

"The Balanced Mind" conferences are sponsored by the New York State Council of Administrators of Music Education (NYSCAME) – Nassau County Chapter; Nassau BOCES Arts in Education Programs; Long Island University C.W. Post Campus Schools of Music and Visual & Performing Arts; the C.W. Post Institute for Arts and Culture; and Tilles Center for the Performing Arts, with cooperation from the Nassau Association of District Curriculum Officials (NADCO); Nassau Music Educators Association (NMEA); Nassau County Museum of Art; Long Island Theatre Education Association (LITEA), American Dance Guild, New York State Dance Association; and the Art Supervisors Association (Nassau County).

The conference will take place at Tilles Center for the Performing Arts, Tuesday, November 5, from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tilles Center for the Performing Arts is located on the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University, 720 Northern Boulevard (Route 25A), in Brookville, New York. Advance registration $80 per person and includes continental breakfast and lunch. Discounts are available for school districts that register 4 or more individuals. For registration and conference information, contact conference chair John C. McNeur at (516) 248-3171.