Interdisciplinary Arts and Media Commons^™

Aspirations Incubator: 2017–2023 Interim Evaluation Report, Sarah Goan, Elora Way, Alexa Plotkin

Publications

The Emanuel & Pauline A. Lerner Foundation’s Aspirations Incubator (AI) is a six-year pilot initiative invested in strategic capacity building for six youth development organizations in rural Maine. Grounded in the Trekkers Youth Programming Principles, the Aspirations Incubator invests targeted resources to provide long-term, comprehensive relationship-based programming to youth. This structured yet flexible program model aims to increase resiliency and introduce new opportunities to cohorts of young people starting in 7th grade and continuing through high school graduation. To document the potential impact and effectiveness of this unique model, the Lerner Foundation contracted with the Data Innovation Project to conduct …

Art As An Act Of Social Justice: Introduction To Art, Music, Poetry, In The Time Of Social Distance, Christine J. Yeh

Journal of Interdisciplinary Perspectives and Scholarship

In this special issue in the Journal of Interdisciplinary Perspectives and Scholarship Art, Music, Poetry, in the Time of Social Distance, five contributors write about the impact of injustice and COVID-19 on their creative works and emergent challenges facing artists, composers, and writers. Providing a cultural and socio-political lens, the essays include images of video, poetry, and art to explore and expose our day to day lived experiences of the pandemic—from notions of isolation, normalcy, community, and distance to the larger impacts this has had on historically targeted groups.

The Impact Of Covid-19 On Volunteering:Results Of A Survey Of Maine Non-Profits, Sarah Goan

Publications

In response to the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly within the nonprofit sector that relies heavily on volunteers, Volunteer Maine sought to assess how volunteer capacity had been affected and what types of support organizations needed to rebuild. To accomplish this, the organization partnered with DIP and SRC to design and administer a statewide survey of nonprofit organizations. The purpose of the study was to understand the pandemic’s impact on the volunteer base, document organizational adjustments to changing conditions, identify innovative responses, and determine how Volunteer Maine and its affiliates could best assist in community recovery efforts. The …

Yolkkh: The Story Of My People, Amna Zelimkha Yandarbin

Theses and Dissertations

The name of my project is: Yolkkh, The Story of My People. With this project I present a series of scarves each one bearing an illustrated scene in order to tell a story – my story and the story of the Noxci people. Noxci are the people who are referred to as “Chechens” by Russians and are generally known by that title. As a Muslim, I have witnessed the way Western media tend to dehumanize my community. In order to contrast this dehumanizing process, I thought that telling the story of my family would help reverse Islamophobic tendencies and raise …

Playing At The Crossroads Of Religion And Law: Historical Milieu, Context And Curriculum Hooks In Lost & Found, Owen Gottlieb

Articles

This chapter presents the use of Lost & Found – a purpose-built tabletop to mobile game series – to teach medieval religious legal systems. The series aims to broaden the discourse around religious legal systems and to counter popular depiction of these systems which often promote prejudice and misnomers. A central element is the importance of contextualizing religion in period and locale. The Lost & Found series uses period accurate depictions of material culture to set the stage for play around relevant topics – specifically how the law promoted collaboration and sustainable governance practices in Fustat (Old Cairo) in twelfth-century …

"Revolution", Noelle Lilley

Capstones

When faced with gun violence in 1990s Canarsie, one 17-year-old carried his community on his back. “Revolution” chronicles the rise and fall of the Canarsie arts youth-led movement, Team Revolution, and the man at the center of it all: Divine Bradley.

For Those Who Grew Too Fast, Erik Soto-Vasquez, Leonardo Dominguez-Ortega, Kiana Liu, Veronica Gomez, Maria Fernanda Meléndez Miranda, Megan Mcnaughton, Haley Gronski, Quetzali Lopez, Marieann Garzon, Brisa Gutierrez, Saúl Rascón Salazar, Mariel Fuentes, Renato Guzman, Karina Pena, Aviva Schwaiger, Denise Espinoza, Tiana Lockett, Katherine Comasil-Hernandez, Ashley Mccluskey, Brayan Vazquez, Manuel Armendariz Castro, Hannah Agbaroji

First-Gen Voices: Creative and Critical Narratives on the First-Generation College Experience

This volume welcomes you amid multiple global epidemics. It welcomes you home, hoping that these words provide visibility, comfort, introspection, and roadmap for pushing boundaries. We know we are tired, we know we are facing uncertainty at every turn, and we know that connection is wearing thin. This collection of words serves as an “I see you,” as an “I am with you,” as an “I love you.” These pieces came together toward end of the Spring 2020, when a group of first-year and transfer students came together to speak their existence. They bring memories and a reminder that together …

Minecrafting Bar Mitzvah: Two Rabbis Negotiating And Cultivating Learner-Driven Inclusion Through New Media., Owen Gottlieb

Articles

In 2013, a boy with special needs used the video game Minecraft to deliver the sermon at his bar mitzvah at a Reform synagogue, an apparently unique ritual phenomenon to this day. Using a narrative inquiry approach, this article examines two rabbis’ negotiations with new media, leading up to, during, and upon reflection after the event. The article explores acceptance, innovation, and validation of new media in religious practice, drawing on Campbell’s (2010) framework for negotiation of new media in religious communities. Clergy biography, philosophy, and institutional context all impact the negotiations with new media. By providing context of a …

The Verge: Networks Of Intersubjective Responding For Just Sustainability Arts Educational Research, Marna Hauk, Amanda Rachel Kippen

Artizein: Arts and Teaching Journal

Two sustainability arts scholars describe a method of data interpretation they developed for making sense of complex environmental and sustainability education research data. They “played” images and recorded a conversation in a form of arts-based intersubjective knowing. The card game process was named the Verge because of how the process promises to surface unheard voices and re-center nondominant insights and ways of knowing. It leverages Casey’s glance method with systems networks to complicate sense making in arts-based educational research. The arts scholars intermixed research data from two just sustainability education research case studies: collages from participants of a climate justice …

Designing Analog Learning Games: Genre Affordances, Limitations And Multi-Game Approaches, Owen Gottlieb, Ian Schreiber

Articles

This chapter explores what the authors discovered about analog games and game design during the many iterative processes that have led to the Lost & Found series, and how they found certain constraints and affordances (that which an artifact assists, promotes or allows) provided by the boardgame genre. Some findings were counter-intuitive. What choices would allow for the modeling of complex systems, such as legal and economic systems? What choices would allow for gameplay within the time of a class-period? What mechanics could promote discussions of tradeoff decisions? If players are expending too much cognition on arithmetic strategizing, could that …

The International Conference On Creative Mathematical Sciences Communication: Online Event (Cmsc'20) And Cmsc'21, Frances Rosamond

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

You are warmly invited to register now for the 5th International Conference on Creative Mathematical Sciences Communication (CMSC’21) which will be held at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Poland, 2–6 July, 2021.

The International Conference on Creative Mathematical Sciences Communication (CMSC) is a unique gathering of computer scientists and mathematicians, teachers, musicians, dancers, dramatists, game designers, educators and communicators of all sorts.

Due to the pandemic, the in-person event scheduled for 2020 has been post- poned and a short CMSC Online Event was organized as a “teaser” or trailer in order to feel the spirit of the full 5th CMSC …

“Because Like – And So I Don’T – So I Think It’S Maybe, I Don’T Know”: Performing Traumatic Effects While Reading Lynda Barry’S The Freddie Stories, David Lewkowich, Michelle Miller Stafford

SANE journal: Sequential Art Narrative in Education

As a picture of childhood composed from the point of view of a young boy named Freddie, who suffers the effects of repeated and ongoing trauma, the experience of reading The Freddie Stories presents a number of interpretive challenges: its main character is often split and in various states of disassociation, the difference between dreaming and waking life is not always obvious, multiple monsters appear in different and changeable forms, and as Freddie experiences repeated difficulties with language and cognitive function, his traumatic past enfolds upon the time in which the story is set. In this paper, we analyze how …

Exploring A Qualitative Approach To Arts Advocacy And Evaluation, Lycette C. Belisle

Undergraduate Theses

The quantitative impact of the arts has become an increasingly important factor in determining the overall value of a project, and is often used to determine acceptance of submissions, public recognition and funding disbursement. This project evaluates current understandings of how the arts function within society, popular methods for determining the value of the arts and explores how qualitative reasoning can be utilized to communicate the value of supporting artistic endeavors. While placing a numerical value on the arts based on data collection can be important, this project will aim to evaluate the implications of relying so heavily on facts …

Engagement And Computational Thinking Through Creative Coding, Dana Hoppe

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

Rising enrollments in Computer Science pose an opportunity to engage students from diverse backgrounds and interests; and a challenge to deliver on positive learning outcomes. While student engagement is the driving factor for increased learning performance and retention, it has been declining to new lows for Computer Science students in recent years. In order to further explore the potential of contextualized computing as a tool for increasing engagement in computing and developing Computational Thinking aptitude in students, we have developed an introductory computing course contextualized with Art and Design with modules centered around guiding pedagogical principles and aimed at middle …

The Potentials Of Learning Object Design In Design Thinking Learning, Can Guvenir, H.Humanur Bagli

Markets, Globalization & Development Review

The market needs surviving skills such as creativity, communication, collaboration and critical thinking due to the evolving technologies; therefore, design thinking educations are getting spread. Design thinking education aims learners to gain problem-solving mindset by passing through the design thinking processes. Design thinking education - as a constructivist learning approach - has skill-based, effective and cognitive learning outcomes. The constructivist learning approach is based on constructing the knowledge on the prior knowledge of the learner by interacting with other learners, instructors and learning objects. Learning objects are the fundamental part of a learning process that carries the properties of the …

Findable, Impactful, Citable, Usable, Sustainable (Ficus): A Heuristic For Authors Of Digital Publishing Projects, Nicky Agate, Cheryl E. Ball, Alison Belan, Monica Mccormick, Joshua Neds-Fox

Library Scholarly Publications

We came together in Spring 2018 at a two-day think tank hosted by Duke University Libraries and supported by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, with dozens of other librarians, publishers, and scholarly communication stakeholders, to work on the question of sustainably publishing large digital projects. The outcome of that discussion turned into an extended project at TriangleSCI 2018 and culminated in the heuristic presented here.The heuristic can be used as a checklist to help authors (and their project team) assess their needs when it comes to making their digital projects findable, impactful, citable, usable, and sustainable (creating the acronym FICUS).

Sensory Substitution, Key To Inclusive Learning, Fathima Z. Zahir

Theses and Dissertations

Visually impaired students, in primary education, encounter unique challenges while learning creative skills, exploring artistic expression and developing problem-solving skills, because so much instructional content is delivered visually. Sensory substitution—an approach that replaces visual information with feedback from other intact senses like touch, sound, taste or smell—provides an opportunity to address those challenges.

Through the use of sensory substitution, this thesis proposes concrete ways to capitalize on the enhanced abilities of visually impaired primary school students. The research outcome of this thesis is a system of templates that puts these enhanced abilities to work for visually impaired students, to support …

Acts Of Meaning, Resource Diagrams, And Essential Learning Behaviors: The Design Evolution Of Lost & Found, Owen Gottlieb, Ian Schreiber

Articles

Lost & Found is a tabletop-to-mobile game series designed for teaching medieval religious legal systems. The long-term goals of the project are to change the discourse around religious laws, such as foregrounding the prosocial aspects of religious law such as collaboration, cooperation, and communal sustainability. This design case focuses on the evolution of the design of the mechanics and core systems in the first two tabletop games in the series, informed by over three and a half years’ worth of design notes, playable prototypes, outside design consultations, internal design reviews, playtests, and interviews.

Bridging The Divide Through Graphic Novels: Teaching Non-Jews’ Holocaust Narratives To Jewish Students, Matt Reingold

SANE journal: Sequential Art Narrative in Education

The following paper considers how integrating Holocaust graphic novels that prominently feature non-Jewish characters can be effective in introducing Jewish students to new perspectives on contemporary understandings of the Holocaust. Drawing on the results of recent studies about rising anti-Semitism and Jews' concerns for their safety, feelings of insularity are understandably becoming more pervasive within the Jewish community. The author argues that in order to combat the negative aspects of this entrenchment, Jewish students need to be introduced to thoughtful and complex narratives that relate to historical anti-Semitic incidents which also model ways of building relationships between the disparate communities …

Portland Symphony Orchestra: Pso Explorers Program Evaluation, Susy Hawes, Sarah Goan, Emilie Swenson Msw

Publications

In 2012, after a strategic planning process and community needs assessment, the Portland Symphony Orchestra (PSO) identified several ways the arts could better serve the community. One result was the creation of PSO Explorers, an arts integration program that brings symphony musicians into kindergarten through third grade classrooms at Portland’s Howard C. Reiche Community School and Longfellow Elementary School. The program uses music to support and enrich students’ learning in literacy, math, science, and social-emotional development by connecting musical activities with classroom lessons. PSO Explorers also helps teachers by providing ideas and skills for using the arts in their daily …

Promoting Resilience In Economically Disadvantaged Adolescents Through School-Based Expressive Arts Groups, Bailey Knox

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Since 2013, the majority of students served by the public school system in the United States have been considered “low-income” by the federal government. The stressors associated with low socioeconomic status significantly increase risk for social, emotional and behavioral challenges at all age levels, but can be particularly damaging to adolescents coping with heightened stress levels related to the intense multi-dimensional changes that define this developmental period. As the correlation between economic disadvantage and negative socio-emotional and academic outcomes is increasingly evidenced, schools have begun to recognize their responsibility for providing preventative mental health care to high-risk students. Over the …

Enmesh: The Art Of Trauma And Recovery, Joanna Pottle

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

Liminal Space is an artistic installation within the ongoing, interdisciplinary creative/research project "Enmesh: The Art of Trauma and Recovery.” Utilizing a combination of research methods, creative processes, and cultural inspirations, this project asks the following questions: how can the artistic process (this project serving as a preliminary case study) parallel various modes of recovery and healing? How can this objective be visually communicated through a mixed media approach of drawing, painting, and printmaking and how can this approach be an effective tool of communication? What can we conclude from both modes of work (solitarily or collectively)? How do they accomplish …

An Act Of God:Let There Be Light, Jaime Mancuso

Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film: Theses, Student Research, and Creative Work

This thesis describes the research and production processes of the lighting design for the play An Act of God by David Javerbaum performed in the Johnny Carson Theater at the Lied Center for Performing Arts from September 28^th through October 14^th 2018. The play was directed by guest artist Michael Mendelson with scenic design by Jill Hibbard, costume design by Haley Williams, lighting design by Jaime Mancuso, sound design by Emily Callahan, projection design by Greyson McCown technical direction by Daniel d’Egnuff, and master electrician Adam Sikorski.

This thesis documents the lighting design process for An Act of …

Dance Of Exile: The Sakharoffs’ Visual Performances In Montevideo (1935–1948), Pablo Munoz Ponzo

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This thesis explores the life-work chronology of the dancers and choreographers Clotilde von Derp (whose surname then was Sakharoff) and Alexander Sakharoff, who were exiled in Montevideo, Uruguay, and Buenos Aires, Argentina, between 1941 and 1948. During their stay in the Rio de la Plata region, the Sakharoffs stirred up the art scene by performing extremely detailed dances with great attention to costume design. This thesis begins with a review of the reception of the dancers’ performances by the artistic and cultural circles in Montevideo, arguing that the Sakharoffs’ “queer” trajectory resonated with the Uruguayan artistic community, influencing the creation …

Master’S-Level Counseling Students’ Experience Of Expressive Arts Techniques In A Cacrep Multicultural Counseling Course, Cameron Houin

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Counseling governing bodies have defined what should be prioritized in multicultural counseling courses, including students’ multicultural knowledge and awareness; however, best practice regarding how to teach these multicultural concepts has largely been left up to the counselor educator. Counselor educators have begun implementing expressive arts techniques in the classroom, but very little literature exists related to using such techniques in a multicultural course in a manner that positively influence counseling students’ multicultural competency.

The purpose of this study was to explore master’s-level counseling students’ experience of expressive arts techniques utilized during their multicultural counseling course. Ten student participants took part …

The Pedagogy Of Design And Technology At Xavier University Of Louisiana, New Orleans, Shayna Tova Blum

Faculty and Staff Publications

Abstract. Xavier University of Louisiana (XULA) is a Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) university located in New Orleans, Louisiana. As a Historically Black University (HBCU), the university serves a diverse community of students in which many are first-generation, college graduates. Students enrolled in Design courses at XULA are studying in Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Art programs and majoring in subjects such as Computer Science, Physics, Mass Communication, Art, Business, and Science. The interdisciplinary student environment offers a unique opportunity for collaboration and peer learning, whereby students are able to share diverse perspectives on a topic by relating …

Great Modules In Drupal 7... And Drupal 8...?, Rachel S. Evans, Lauren Blais

Presentations

The two presenters each shared their favorite Drupal modules, giving site examples of each in action and talking about the benefits and drawbacks of each. Most UGA websites using Drupal are in the process of migrating content from 7 to 8, so each module discussed was then described in terms of availability in 8. The following five modules were explored:

• Quick Tabs
• Flex Slider
• Geolocation and Leaflet
• Biblio (not in D8)
• Environment Indicator

Design For Living Complexities, Peter J. Taylor

Working Papers in Critical, Creative and Reflective Practice

Lectures from a 12-session course that addresses the intersection of design with critical thinking. Design in this course means intentionality in construction, which involves a range of materials, a sequence of steps, and principles that inform the choice of materials and the steps. Design also always involves putting people, as well as materials, into place. This happens by working with the known properties of people, as well as the known properties of material, and trying out new arrangements to work around their constraints (at least temporarily). Critical thinking, as I define it, involves understanding ideas and practices better when we …

Teaching Visual Literacies: The Case Of The Great American Dust Bowl, Mary F. Rice, Ashley K. Dallacqua

SANE journal: Sequential Art Narrative in Education

Teachers and students require a range of tools to engage with visual texts. Using The Great American Dust Bowlby Don Brown (2013) as an exemplar text, we outline four conceptions of visual literacy: rhetorical, instructional, industrial and visuo-spatial and discuss their use in our literacy education practice. In addition, we provide a brief model of a second text, The Arrival (Tan, 2013) and a list of suggested texts for students at different levels (elementary, middle, and high school). We argue that these tools have the potential to deepen conceptions of visual literacies and empower teachers and students to understand …

Performance Measurement In Maine’S Social Sector: The Intersection Of Philanthropy And Nonprofits, Susy Hawes, Sarah Goan

Publications

The Data Innovation Project undertook this project to better understand foundations’ expectations of grantees in terms of performance measures and outcomes as outlined in their grant applications. Over the past two years, the Data Innovation Project has engaged with over 250 Maine nonprofits who are navigating the data reporting requirements of a diverse portfolio of funders with varying degrees of success and challenges. This paper looks more closely at how the important relationship between foundations and nonprofits may benefit from increased understanding and clarity around measurement approaches so that both dollars and efforts lead to meaningful and measureable results across …