Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Documenting The Visual Literacy Infusion Project Through Mini Learning Stories, Martha Barry Mckenna, Chris Clark, Janet Sauer, Andre Ruesch, Ellen Schon

Lesley University Community of Scholars Day

The Visual Literacy InFUSION Project is a professional development program designed to increase the creative teaching and assessment of learning in visual literacy to transform undergraduate student learning experiences. Funded by the Davis Educational Foundation, Lesley University created a model for infusing visual literacy across the liberal arts and sciences disciplines and professional majors in the College of Art & Design and College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Collaborating in cross-school partnerships, a group of 16 faculty explored visual literacy across their various disciplines to create pedagogical projects to expand students’ understanding of the power of images as tools for …

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 …

Anxiety And Alternative Facts: An Arts-Based Critical Social Improvisation Project, Rebecca Zarate, Nancy Beardall, Talaye Zarafshandardaky, Brooke Rutstein

Lesley University Community of Scholars Day

According to Grayson and Meilman (2011) the stakes are too high in current campus culture to not acknowledge the social roots of mental health issues such as anxiety, and concerns of students as related to campus safety. This arts-based, music performance project responded to concerns on campus from recent political and social events. More specifically, it aimed to explore the concept of “alternative facts” and how this idea plays with the collective concepts of truth and falsifications. It explored applications of clinical improvisation and the concept of collective anxiety as a social phenomenon expressed through arts including music, dance, and …

Haiti: Black Leadership, Art, And Life, Danielle Legros Georges, Helen Jospeh, Anaëlle Séïde, Rocky Cotard, Mosheh Tucker

Lesley University Community of Scholars Day

Join Lesley students and faculty in a discussion of the leading role Haiti has played in struggles against slavery and colonialism in the Americas and globally; its historic and consistent rejections of white supremacist values and dangerous stereotypes in the contemporary moment; and the lived experiences of Haitians working as artists, therapists, learners, teachers, here at Lesley who draw on pioneering Haitian models of epistemology and ontology—on Haitian sources of strength, community, resilience, and vision. Images will also be projected.

Visual Influence And Youth Empowerment, Rebecca A. Cote

Lesley University Community of Scholars Day

During adolescence, youth start to look outside of their spheres of family to explore the greater world and they are often left with visual media as the go-to source of information. Media images are contrived to provoke meaning through the use of signs and how they are presented and they manipulate images to impart messages. Youth need to be literate in visual language in order to discern the implied influence.

Socially Engaged Practice: Three Artists, Susan Ashbrook

Lesley University Community of Scholars Day

In recent years many artists have turned to ‘socially engaged practice,’ striving to effect social or political change through community-based or participatory projects outside of traditional gallery spaces. In my presentation I will review projects by three contemporary artists who work with underserved communities to develop creative responses to social injustices they face and to help them develop powerful tools to impact their lives

Suzanne Lacy, one of the original California feminists of the 1970s, is well-known for her performance pieces and installations that engage with social issues through conversation within communities. Rape and violence against women have been …

Leading From The In-Between: Disability, Leadership, And Identity, Xochitl Mendez

Lesley University Community of Scholars Day

The daily lives of individuals challenged with physical disabilities shed light on the intersections, as well as the friction, between the identities we forge as individuals, and the social identities of the public space. In this interdisciplinary presentation, I will explore the fault lines between the social concepts of disability and the personal realities and specifics of biology and adaptation.

Exploring my own experiences with disability, pedagogy, and art, I will further delve on how the social realm (Arendt, 1958) evaluates and judges identity from expected modes of interaction that are often not available to the disabled person. Further, using …

The Effects Of Rhythm For Social Emotional Learning Skills Development, Jonathan O. Mande

Lesley University Community of Scholars Day

Many people talk about the importance of music in school and learning, we all know about its effects on cognitive development for children and adults. Though despite these universally known facts, music education programs are increasingly underfunded in schools, private lessons are not accessible to most people, while our country is simultaneously suffering from an increase in academic retention and destructive societal conflicts. Music brings all people together and at its core is rhythm. It makes available a space for joy; to fully express love, build bonds and strengthen our individual spirits. When used intentionally, music heals and is a …

̶T̶H̶E̶ ̶ A Possibility For Light, Daniel Burmester

Lesley University Community of Scholars Day

How can an educator help young people feel a reverence for and connection with the world? I asked myself this three years ago as I began thinking about how, as an educator, I could better the world. I believe that harmful action on our world can occur when reverence for and connection with it erodes or has never given a chance to flourish. Researchers in cognitive psychology have suggested that experiencing the emotion awe allows people to feel greater connections with elements of our world. (Keltner, 2016; Shiota, Keltner, & Mossman, 2007) My work at Lesley focuses on the emotion …

Making Visible: More Of The Picture, Sarah Slavick

Lesley University Community of Scholars Day

In Linda Nochlin’s essay “Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?, “ she demonstrates how, for centuries, institutional and societal structures had made it “impossible for women to achieve artistic excellence, or success, on the same footing as men, no matter what the potency of their so-called talent, or genius.” As the Guerilla Girls noted, only 1 woman had a solo museum show in NY in 1985, and, in 2015, 30 years later, it wasn’t much better with 1 at the Guggenheim, Met and Whitney, and 2 at MOMA. On International Women’s Day, March 1, 2017, I began a …

A Visual Tool For Interdisciplinary Investigations, James J. O'Keefe

Lesley University Community of Scholars Day

Interdisciplinary investigations using the Gapminder dynamic interactive software will be the focus of this seminar.

Ready, Set, Play! Disrupting Our Preconceptions Of Classroom Learning Through Innovative Teaching Practices., Heather Shaw

Lesley University Community of Scholars Day

What is play in the context of an undergraduate classroom? For our purposes, play is an attitude and an approach to making work. Both inside and outside of the classroom, there are many ways in which play can serve as a base for serious problem-solving.

As educators, we choose to create a learning environment that provides enjoyment to the people who conduct activities within it. Play does not need to be frivolous — it encourages curiosity, constructive and critical discourse, and provides a safe environment to fail. Framing work within the context of “play” allows students to go beyond their …

The Effect Of Gsas In High Schools, Chase Lydon

Lesley University Community of Scholars Day

How does the presence of GSAs in high schools affect students and overall school atmosphere? This paper delves into how the presence of GSAs in schools has a number of positive effects on students as well as on the overall school atmosphere (Deming et al.). This leads to improved student health and safety in addition to students sense of comfort and safety in their school (Ioverno et al.). These positive changes affect both LGBTQ+ and straight students attending schools where GSAs are present (Poteat et al.).

Hashtag Meta- Dissecting The Ways Social Media Mimics Aspects Of Mental Illness, Britney Segermeister

Lesley University Community of Scholars Day

Life as a millennial means by the end of our lifetime the internet and our existence in it will have had a presence throughout the majority of our life. For most their participation would have begun in pre-teen to adolescent years, our most transitional stage before reaching physical and legal adulthood. Has social media had an impact on our society and are Millenials the most susceptible? This project explores a visual response to the effects of social media, with the creation of visual personalities and intersection between the tangible and the digital.

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 …

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 …

Do It Yourself But Never Alone: Creating Social Change From Punk To Politics, Joe Mageary

Lesley University Community of Scholars Day

This presentation will use punk rock culture as a context within which to address the question of how decentralized social movements can focus the energy of concerned citizens on direct action and meaningful change-making. Goals of the presentation include: addressing how do-it-yourself (DIY) punk culture is engaging in social activism as a response to social injustice; demonstrating how punk is using the arts for social engagement; and providing an example of how punk can be a form of empowerment via radical education.

These points will be illustrated through the presentation of original qualitative research conducted by the presenter during a …

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

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