Digital Commons Network^™

Haiti: Step Back, Leap Forward, Rocky Cotard

Lesley University Community of Scholars Day

Throughout this presentation, I will speak on how having seen a visual display of my culture enabled me to enter the art world with a renewed sense of vigor. I will give a brief history of Haiti and its difficulties, but with a strong focus on its power and triumphs. I will be speaking on my current project, Step Back Leap Forward, where I collaborate with Haitian artists and youth communities in Haiti to create imagery that supports and positively promotes our culture.

Step Back Leap Forward seeks to lift the veil for art colleges so that they can …

Leadership In Lgbtq Research And Practice Within Counseling Psychology, Sue L. Motulsky, Sidney M. Trantham, Kimberly Cherry, Maura Mccullough, Carla Rosinski

Lesley University Community of Scholars Day

Many issues affecting the well-being of LGBTQ individuals and communities need more research to inform clinical and counseling practice. Transformative leadership employs a social justice framework to focus attention, resources, and research on critical LGBTQ agendas so that this marginalized and underserved population can receive needed services and programs. This panel of Counseling and Psychology faculty and doctoral students discuss how they are taking a leadership role through research, practice, and training in specific LGBTQ issues.

• Bisexuality is commonly misunderstood as society struggles to move from binary conceptualizations of sexuality and gender to new paradigms. Queer women are often confronted …

Self-Discovery Through The Personal Essay, Scott Sanders, Kai Barry, Charlie Clement, Katya Zinn, Leigh Kozak, Erin O'Shea, Evelyn Cameron

Lesley University Community of Scholars Day

The triumphs and traumas of our past help shape us, yet sometimes our identity is still difficult to figure out. Who am I? Why am I here? Why did that happen to me? What is my purpose? Writing is often the best way to approach the answers to such profound questions, to work through previous pain or happiness or distress. It is one thing for a student to verbally discuss these ideas with friends, family, or counselors. It is another thing entirely to look inward, to be absolutely honest with oneself, and then write about it. Crafting a personal essay …

Watering Black Roots (Reconnecting Human+Nature), Stormy Saint-Val, Angelica Pinna-Perez

Lesley University Community of Scholars Day

“I understood at a very early age that in nature, I felt everything I should feel in church but never did. Walking in the woods, I felt in touch with the universe and with the spirit of the universe”. -Alice Walker

Growing up with a strong connection to nature, I struggled balancing the joys and sorrows of being the only black person in my environment engaging in outdoor activities. It took 26 years for me to find spaces where people of color were either centered or inclusively involved in the strong connection with the natural world. Interacting with wildlife in …

Global Perspectives In The Us Social Justice Classes: Impact On Identity, Alexandra (Sasha) Watkins, Corliss Brown Thompson

Lesley University Community of Scholars Day

This paper is based on the experiences and reflections of the instructor and the student in the social justice doctoral-level course. Graduate-level social justice classes provide students with valuable knowledge on how power, privilege, and oppression operate in the society and its impact on individuals and communities (Boutain, 2008; Garii & Appova, 2013; Mohammed, Cooke, Ezeonwu, & Stevens, 2014; Motulsky, Gere, Saleem, & Trantham, 2014). At the same time, the scholarly material covered in the social justice classes can serve as a powerful catalyst for examining one’s personal identity (Farnsworth, 2010), thus contributing to students’ identity development (Izadinia, 2013; Trent, …

Autoethnographic Inquiry Into Identity Transformation And Posttraumatic Growth Following (Tbi) And (Ptsd), Dee Phyllis Genetti

Lesley University Community of Scholars Day

Autoethnographic Inquiry into Identity Transformation and Posttraumatic Growth

Following (TBI) and (PTSD)

Abstract:

Posttraumatic Growth (PTG) is a phenomenon of growth in the aftermath of suffering extreme life adversities that challenges one’s core beliefs and worldviews. Psychological well-being may be positively changed in domains of self-perception, relationships, and philosophy of life. Psychological growth, however, is not inevitable after trauma. My research is an autoethnographic inquiry into my journey of resilience, on-going recovery and identity transformation. I explore the phenomenon of PTG concurrently with my recovery as a survivor of a devastating traumatic brain injury (TBI) and co-occurring posttraumatic stress disorder …

What Is “Arts Based Research”?: 5 Different Types Of Research Projects, Young Imm Kang Song, Katina Mcclain, Meaghan Harigan, Yamel Rizk, Julie Cangrand, Amanda Miller

Lesley University Community of Scholars Day

What is Arts Based Research? Through these 5 different projects, the audience will learn about different types of arts-based research approaches that focus on the arts, education, and social sciences. We used creative process and various art modalities to research the human experience. These 5 projects are closely relate to each researcher’s own community-based interests, involvements, and experiences.

Amanda’s project called “Crafting Collective Memory: Using Objects and Storytelling to Make Meaning of Passed Down Remembrances.” This research investigates the value of using a creative relationship with objects to construct meaning by interpreting, through the art making process, memories as they …

Arts Based Brain Research, Alicia Arendt

Lesley University Community of Scholars Day

Art is believed to be “the expression or application of the human creative skill and imagination, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their aesthetic value or emotional power” (Buk, 2009, p. 61). While there are a myriad of ways to define and categorize art, such a definition as the one above is useful as it touches upon three key areas of arts based brain research; artistic cognition, artistic production and aesthetic experience. The study of arts based brain science, or the neuroscience of art, demands an understanding of the interplay between these three facets of the artistic experience. Most …

Mapping Mindfulness In Digital Culture With Contemplative Leadership, Erin Sheehan

Lesley University Community of Scholars Day

MAP Mindfulness is a project and organization founded by Sherri Henderson and Erin Sheehan, two recent Lesley University alumni from the Master of Arts in Mindfulness Studies program. They created MAP to serve two main purposes that they will share in this presentation. Their first aim is to curate a dynamic online community for mindfulness professionals to engage in dialogue and collaborative efforts in the emerging field of mindfulness. This group would bring an emphasis on research, ethical standards, and authentic practice.

Their second purpose is to continue their own work in what they call, “Digital Mindfulness.” Their …

Life-Long Learning And Leadership: "I Know More Than I Thought I Did", Enid E. Larsen

Lesley University Community of Scholars Day

Format

Individual presentation – Autoethnographic narrative with digital montage and 2 art-based artifacts.

Right Of Adoption For Same-Sex Parents, Youjia Chen

Lesley University Community of Scholars Day

The gay right has been one of the hot topics in the world, especially when the same-sex marriage legalized, there are few controversial topics still cannot be solved. I mainly discussed do same-sex parents have the right to have children or to be the adoptive parents. I have read several articles and research about how the same-sex parents affect their children, would their sexual orientation will affect the children etc. the result was the influence for children who grow in a homosexual family is same as heterosexual family, in conclusion, the same-sex parents definitely have the right to have children. …

Situated Narratives: Hearing The Voices Of Jewish Adolescent Girls, Cheryl Weiner

Lesley University Community of Scholars Day

The project offers an in-depth analysis of life story narratives from Jewish adolescent girls (McAdams, 1993) to better understand what Jewish identity means to them and how it shapes their feelings, attitudes and responses to inter and intra-personal issues regarding Whiteness, Judaism, social responsibility, gender and privilege. Findings from this project will contribute to the development of a conceptual framework for understanding Jewish adolescent girls’ identity development and as a means for engaging Jewish girls in important social justice work.

McAdams, D. P. (1993). The stories we live by: Personal myths and the making of the self. Guilford Press.

Visual Sociology: A Model For Liberal Arts And Professional Studio Learning Exchange In Japan, Kazuyo Kubo, Kristina Lamour Sansone, Michael Talbot

Lesley University Community of Scholars Day

This collaborative project in its third year explores cross-disciplinary teaching and learning through integration of sociology and professional studio arts and design. The project is a major part of the travel course in Japan that I have taught with Lesley Art + Design (LA+D) colleagues in Animation, Illustration and Design. The project examines how past and current students of liberal arts and arts and design have made associations across disciplines as well as to explore what new knowledge this cross-disciplinary collaboration can bring to each field.

Educational Leadership: When Self-Perception Stymies Social Progress, Camille Marie Garcia, Amanda Claudia Wager

Lesley University Community of Scholars Day

When we think about identity as the personal marker that defines us as individuals, it is impossible to divorce perception from its maker. As firm as identity is, it's malleability is apparent within the context of interpersonal relations, both personally and professionally. Each of us perceives the world uniquely, using lenses that fit our individual values, ethical and moral codes. That perception is also colored by our individual histories, and those moments filled with emotional fervor. How we are perceived will often mirror what we choose to reveal in different social contexts. However, when we leak aspects of our personalities …

The Pine Street Project, Molly Mcgrail

Lesley University Community of Scholars Day

At the beginning of the 2017-2018 school year a group of my classmates and I worked together to help solve a problem for Pine Street Inn, the largest homeless shelter in New England. We planned two major events and raised $500 for hot meals. After raising the $500 over the time of our class I decided to set a personal goal. I plan on raising $5,000 for Pine Street in total by the time I graduate with my masters degree in three to four years. I wanted to be able to help change something within my community for the better …

Me In/And Ovid, Anthony Apesos

Lesley University Community of Scholars Day

Me in/and Ovid

community of scholars day

Examining Opportunities For Dialogic Talk In A Kindergarten English Language Development Classroom, Margaret Burns

Lesley University Community of Scholars Day

Purpose and Background

Dialogic talk, in which students are engaged in authentic, extended discourse where meaning is co-constructed and conceptual understanding is incrementally built, is an important aspect of English Language Development instruction (Gersten et al., 2007; Harper & de Jong, 2004; O’Connor & Michaels, 2007; Saunders & Goldenberg, 2010; Snow & Katz, 2010; Gibbons, 2015; Mercer, Dawes, & Staarman, 2009). Supported by Russell and Faculty Development Grants, this study examines how teacher language use in an inquiry-based science unit both facilitated and constrained dialogic talk in a Kindergarten ELD classroom in a Two-Way Dual Language context.

Specifically, I ask: …

Privileged Leadership: Teaching English Learners With Fixed Mindsets, Alexandra Lituchy

Lesley University Community of Scholars Day

Research was conducted over a hundred hours at a nearby public school to observe the growth or fixed mindset language of English learners as compared to native English speakers in the second grade. Observations were also made of the English learner’s teacher’s mindset language. Existing research proves that any student with a fixed mindset have poorer academic performances. Yet, very little research has been done on if the same is true for English learners specifically. Based on the research conducted, English learners are more likely to use fixed mindset language than native English speakers. English learners also demonstrate a fixed …

Group-Based Songwriting With Adolescents In A Partial Hospitalization Program, Jonathan Blake

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

The growing field of music therapy aims to help those who suffer from an array of disorders, anxieties, and diagnoses using a wide collection of interventions and activities. Songwriting has been a useful tool for music therapists for many years. Popular interventions that utilize lyric replacement, fill-in-the-blank or Mad Lib style, and improvisational blues songwriting, have been very effective across a range of populations including children, adolescents, and the elderly. This project aims to bridge a gap in the research by implementing an original idea, which I devised, which encouraged clients to engage organically in a group setting. This intervention …

Lesley University Library Newsletter, Vol. 2(2), Office Of The Dean Of The Library, Hedi Benaicha, Jonah Lee Santiago, Micki Harrington, Zack Wray, Rachel Fernandez, Philip M. Siblo-Landsman, Abby Mancini, Marie Wasnock, Samantha Quiñon Snair, Jamie Glass, Alexis Dhembe, Robyn Ferrero, Tyahra Angus

Library Newsletter

The Spring 2018 Lesley University Library Newsletter is an overview of developments that have taken place in the library since the Fall 2017 semester. It reports on success stories, gives insight into personal accounts of library resources, and new developments to enhance the quality of services.

The newsletter begins with an overview by Dean Hedi BenAicha and is followed with contributions from many of the staff members of the library. This includes Sam Quiñon's article, "Attention Faculty: what Lesley Librarians Actually Do," which indicates how the library field has changed and how important it is for librarians to engage in …

Complicated Grief And Art Therapy, Rachel Brandoff

Expressive Therapies Dissertations

Complicated grief (CG) has come to be a common enough occurrence in mental health treatment to warrant research, literature, and discussion of markers, causes, prevalence, symptoms, measures, and treatment protocols. Art therapy presents one possible mode of treatment for individuals suffering from CG, and yet few art therapists know about CG or have training in this area. A systematic review of art therapy programs and educational requirements showed no current standards or training requirements for grief or CG. Art therapists are master’s trained clinicians who work with people with a variety of mental health challenges, and training in CG may …

10.01.012-.013 Lesley College Publications, Literary Magazines, 1960-2017, Marie Wasnock

Finding Aids

A collection of literary magazines written and published by students of Lesley University:

Pendulum, founded by the friends of the Livingston Stebbins Library, was a literary magazine published once a year and contains prose, verse, photography, and graphic art by the undergraduate students of Lesley College. The Pendulum collection comprises 24 issues published between 1960 and 1983.

Commonthought is a magazine of the arts created by students of Lesley College, Lesley University, and the Art Institute of Boston. It was first published under the title, Womanthought, in 1989, and renamed in the early 1990s. The Commonthought collection comprises …

An Investigation Into Learning And Development Associated With Embodied Mindfulness, Kristen Picard

Educational Studies Dissertations

The intention of this study was to increase understanding of how Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) teachers cultivate embodied mindfulness. Recent publications reveal that embodied mindfulness is an essential competency for teaching mindfulness-based interventions. However, there is a gap in the literature related to how MBSR teachers learn or develop this competency. A qualitative phenomenological study influenced by a constructivist paradigm was designed to uncover the essence of MBSR teachers’ experiences of learning and developing embodied mindfulness. The participants were 10 MBSR teachers, defined as adults who received the designation of Qualified or Certified MBSR Teachers from the University of Massachusetts …

"Can You Just Move The Curtain?": Stories Of Women From The Educational Underclass At The College Door, Janet Kaplan-Bucciarelli

Educational Studies Dissertations

Although millions of adults with a high school diploma or GED need and want to further their education by attaining a postsecondary credential, the majority do not succeed. It is widely known that marginalized adult learners arrive at college academically underprepared and that they face numerous barriers to participation once they enroll. But very few studies look at adults’ life experiences, assets, and perspectives on college before they enroll—when they are still “at the college door.”

This qualitative study explores the stories of ten women (ages 29-56) in pre-college transition classes in the Northeast US, and how their familial, school, …

Perspectives And Expectations Of Native Spanish-Speaking Parents About Their Children's Education In An American Elementary School, Franklin D. Rothwell Ii

Educational Studies Dissertations

This qualitative study inquired about the perceptions of Spanish-speaking immigrant parents about their children's experiences in a Massachusetts elementary school, the expectations they have for their children's education, and their understanding of their role with regards to their children's education. The phenomenological design and analysis concentrated on parents' lived experience as they and their families interacted with the school. Thirty-eight parents of English learners participated in answering a questionnaire and ten were later interviewed. Findings reveal that parents of English learners face obstacles in understanding American schooling and often rely on information from others and comparisons with their own previous …

The Somatic Experience Of White Privilege: A Dance/Movement Therapy Approach To Racialized Interactions, Wendy Allen

Expressive Therapies Dissertations

This qualitative study examined the somatic experience of White privilege in participants who were committed to developing a nonracist White identity. It postulated that there are somatic cues and expressive signatures of White privilege that, once identified, could be addressed through basic dance/movement therapy interventions used at the intrapersonal level. Awareness of these cues may help White people navigate their privilege in racialized interactions thereby reducing further enactments of racism.

Using Critical Race Theory and Whiteness Studies as conceptual frameworks and building on research exploring the impact of oppression on the body, this study sought to answer the following questions: …

A Buddhist Perspective On The Global Environmental Crisis: Poetics Of The Wild, Cynthia D. Trone

Mindfulness Studies Theses

My thesis is about a Buddhist perspective on the global environmental crisis, including an exploration of how both ancient and modern poetry express a compassionate response to nature, a social science survey, and a creative project of my own poetry. The exploration in the rationale paper suggests that looking inward may be an important way to begin to understand individual responsibility for the global environmental crisis. In consideration of this is a discussion of ancient Buddhist wisdom and teachings about, and the relevance of, mindfulness, compassion, interdependence, and impermanence. In a creative extension of this discussion, an exploration of Buddhist- …

Threshold Yearbook, 2018, Lesley University

Threshold Program - Yearbooks

Yearbook published by the Threshold Program Class of 2018. Original volume available for browsing in the Lesley University Archives.

Taking In: A Selection Of La + D Photography 2018, La + D Students

Taking In

Taking In is a juried annual student-run publication that showcases the best of LA + D undergraduate photography and video. The project focuses on the business of promoting art and culminates each year with a juried exhibition, publication, and website all designed to promote selected works of AIB artists. The selected pieces were chosen anonymously by a jury of distinguished members of the Boston art community. The book in your hand is the end result of a collective effort by those in the class.

Collaborative Action Research To Implement Social-Emotional Learning In A Rural Elementary School: Helping Students Become "Little Kids With Big Words", Donna M. San Antonio Dr.

Faculty Scholarship

Research has shown that social and emotional learning (SEL) can benefit students in affective, interpersonal, communicative, and academic realms. However, teachers integrating SEL face a variety of logistical, pedagogical, and skill development challenges, including how to effectively facilitate classroom conversations on social justice and personal loss. This article draws from classroom observations, teacher conversations, interactive journals, and field notes to describe a seven-month-long university-school partnership to carry out an action research project in a high-poverty rural elementary school in the US. Teachers grappled with how to address race, immigration, and gender discrimination in a predominantly White community. Classroom vignettes, and …