(Re)vising the Self Through Art: A Curricular Examination

• In Event: Performing Self: Tracing Art and Identity as Method

Abstract

Calls for greater interdisciplinarity are ubiquitous throughout curriculum and learning theories. This paper details an empirical research project investigating the potential impact of one such interdisciplinary pedagogical project undertaken in separate college-level multiculturalism and drawing courses. Theorectically centered in Eisner’s (2002) work on the impact of the arts on the construction of mind and Warin and Muldoon’s (2009) critique of contemporary approaches to identity construction, this research explores the impact of an interdisciplinary project on student’s beliefs about stereotypes, the role of vulnerability in shaping personal identity, and the nature of identity construction in general. Findings indicate that the collaboration helped students confront stereotypes they unconsciously constructed and to reconceive of identity as a flexible tool for self-understanding.

Author

• Sue Ellen Henry, Bucknell University