Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Commonthought (2018), Commonthought Staff

Commonthought

This issue features works created by Lesley University students and covers a broad range of topics. The work itself crosses many disciplines from creative writing to visual arts.

Mutual Vulnerability And Intergenerational Healing: Black Women Hbcu Students Writing Memoir, Zelda Lockhart

Expressive Therapies Dissertations

This qualitative phenomenological study sought to gain insight into the unique experiences of Black women students who were writing memoir toward the goal of self-definition in a Black feminist learning environment at a Historically Black College/University (HBCU). Two teaching methods included personal plot (an extension of expressive writing that offers writing prompts for emotional closure), and biblio-fusion (a combination of expressive writing and bibliotherapy) (Lockhart, 2017a; 2017b). Interviews were conducted with six Black women participants and triangulated against their personal essays and online journal responses. Personal plot, a form of narrative analysis was used to construct paragraphs on what each …

Stepfamily, Rebecca Chappelear

MFA in Photography and Integrated Media Theses

A discussion of the photographic imagery used in artist's work and a first-hand account of the experience which lead to it's creation. The work and writing encapsulate the trauma caused by family dysfunction brought on by a stepfather's struggle with depression and alcoholism.

Empathizing With “The Other”: Visualization And Perspective Taking, Lisa Spitz, Liv Cummins

Lesley University Community of Scholars Day

As today’s youth blossom into adulthood, they will simultaneously be challenged to develop their sense of self/identity and to cultivate their ability to embrace differences, all while being bombarded by visual media and messaging. Research literature on perspective taking provides a framework by which students can develop an understanding of their own perspective, imagine the world from an “other” perspective, and make connections that link to productive actions (Selman, 1971). Perspective taking as a concept has been linked to greater empathy, compassion, and prosocial behavior (Hardwood and Farrar, 2006). Yet the mechanism for enabling productive perspective taking is unclear. In …

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 …

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 …