POTSDAM -- Crane School of Music Professor Dr. Mark Campbell was recently invited to Washington, D.C., to participate in a think tank discussion.

He and the other invited participants worked toward establishing a national agenda focused on the intersection of arts education and special education.

The forum brought together thought leaders to discuss the need for a national agenda to deliver the arts to students with disabilities.

At the forum, leaders and experts examined the current status of arts education for students and young adults with disabilities, and developed a framework for the future. Those invited had to demonstrate achievements, interest or expertise in higher and special education and individuals with disabilities.

“To be a part of a group of individuals working toward ensuring and broadening both creative and educational access for individuals with various disabilities or disadvantages was not only inspiring but hugely important -- important because the appreciation of culture and the respect for the creative individual, regardless of capacity or potential, as President Kennedy himself said, is a national concern and one that requires full attention by all Americans,” Campbell said.

The 40 participants represented a broad spectrum, including university arts faculty members, parents, parent advocates and policy experts from the White House, the U.S. Department of Education and independent non-profit organizations. The program was part of the Kennedy Center’s National Partnerships initiative.

Dr. Campbell teaches undergraduate courses in general music education and graduate courses in philosophy of music education, psychology of music and curriculum at SUNY Potsdam’s Crane School of Music. He currently coordinates early field experiences for undergraduate students at one of Crane’s laboratory schools in Potsdam. Campbell holds master’s and doctoral degrees in music education from the University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign. He taught kindergarten through eighth grade general music in rural, suburban and urban schools for 20 years in Champaign County and Franklin Park, Ill., as well as in Potsdam.

Campbell is also the co-editor of Advances in Music Education Research, the official publication of the American Educational Research Association’s Music Education Special Interest Group, of which he is the chair. Campbell is also a member of the research councils for both the Bulletin of the Council for Music Education and the New York State School Music Association (NYSSMA).