Thesis (M.A.)--Ohio University, June, 2007. / Title from PDF t.p. Includes bibliographical references.

<p>This study was undertaken among teachers in different schools of Sweden and among several teachers with experience in teaching drama during February and March 2006. The aim was to explore what the beneficial aspects of working with drama outdoors are and simultaneously to examine any problems that may appear and what kind of activities the teachers believe are more conducive to outdoor settings.</p><p>Qualitative research methods were used for this study. An open questionnaire was sent to eight drama teachers for their opinion on doing drama activities in outdoor environments. Also, activities recommended for using in outdoor settings were prepared and send to several teachers, some of whom had previous experience working outdoors. They were asked later in an open questionnaire to evaluate the relative success of the activities they managed to do and the positive aspects and problems they encountered in doing the activities in outdoor settings. Additionally, some unstructured observations of two different groups took place in two elementary schools. </p><p>The research reveals that in general terms, the teachers encountered many beneficial outcomes of using drama activities in outdoor environments and they encountered some problems as well. </p><p>This study demonstrates the relative success and benefits of drama activities in outdoor environments and addresses some common problems that may appear. It contains a variety of drama activities that can be useful to teachers who are interested in working with drama in the outdoors. The discussion includes some recommendations for teachers.</p>

Ragdoll is a play in two acts telling the story of Jeff Stiles and his children, Annie and Andy. Jeff’s wife is a life-sized rag doll, and Annie and Andy have both human and doll parts to their physiology. Much of the play revolves around Andy and Jeff’s debate over the nature of their family’s existence.

Un corps humain n’est pas le réceptacle passif d’impressions. Il n’est condamné à aucun « réel » qui s’imposerait à lui. Tout au contraire crée-t-il, continûment et spontanément, des images singulières de la réalité. Cette faculté d’imaginisation est le sujet de la présente thèse, ainsi que la conséquence qui s’ensuit, pour chaque individu, de ne pouvoir que croire en une réalité toujours déjà imaginisée. L’imaginisation sera envisagée selon une double visée : en tant que faculté (laquelle produit des effets concrets, historisants), et en tant que qualité originelle de l’être humain. Poser que l’imaginisation est la qualité qui définit l’appartenance à l’humanité induit entre autres que la raison est renvoyée à un statut second : elle est un choix possible à l’intérieur d’une création incessante d’images-réalités, par où se constitue singulièrement une fiction enveloppante de la vie. Notre objectif n’est pas de déprécier le choix en faveur de la raison en indiquant qu’il serait, à tout coup, contraint et réducteur. Mais ne plus être en mesure – parce que l’être humain est d’emblée appréhendé en tant qu’être de raison (ens rationis) – de penser que la raison requiert un choix et qu’elle ne « va » pas de soi, c’est se couper de tout accès à la question : « Qu’est-ce que l’homme ? ». Nous voulons considérer l’être humain en tant qu’il imaginise le réel en y adjoignant une part fictive qui, à la fois, précède, intègre et outrepasse la « simple » raison. Fiction enveloppante forcément ignorée par le rationalisme positiviste, alors qu’elle est attachée de façon indissoluble à la vie de chacune et de chacun ; tous étant les acteurs individuels d’une histoire personnelle et collective. Avant d’être un être de raison, l’homme est un être vivant qui imaginise singulièrement les choses, les situations, les évènements, ses semblables… Il en résulte une complexité telle qu’aucun échange, aucune relation, aucune cohabitation, ne peuvent à priori être déterminés rationnellement. Dès lors, si les présentes recherches ne portent pas directement sur le politique, celui-ci en constitue l’horizon, voire la finalité ultime. L’expérience nous apprend en effet que pour qu’une philosophie politique puisse être politiquement pertinente et utile, il faut qu’elle soit fondée non pas sur ce que l’on voudrait que les hommes soient, mais sur ce qu’ils sont. Non pas sur les hommes rationnels que la théorie souhaiterait qu’ils fussent, mais sur des êtres ayant un corps fait de mémoire, de peurs et de rêves. En ce sens, nous partageons le questionnement quant à la nécessité d’une approche qui prendrait en compte « la totalité des dimensions de la vie humaine, le mythe comme la raison, le religieux comme le juridique, non pour les confondre, mais pour les articuler ensemble » . Notre plaidoyer est double, mais non contradictoire : il s’agit de penser une plus grande complexification du politique que celle définie par la raison identitaire – héritée de l’ère moderne et des Lumières – et qui est factuellement dépassée par le monde/mondialisé qui constitue désormais le territoire de toute politique. Cela n’est possible qu’en affrontant le fait que les hommes ne sont pas que raison, mais sont avant tout des imaginaires singuliers. Fonder, en ce sens, une politique requiert préalablement la définition de ce que l’on entend par imaginaires singuliers, et impose d’en repérer les modes d’agir, non plus seulement au niveau de l’histoire, ni même d’une histoire culturelle, mais d’une génésie culturelle : tel est l’objectif des recherches que l’on va lire. Celles-ci sont illustrées principalement par deux exemples paradigmatiques : la mythologie chrétienne, et le cinéma en tant qu’art de l’univers mytho-technique.

La Galatée et le Persiles de Cervantès ont fréquemment suscité des difficultés d'interprétation car ils n'établissent pas le même rapport avec la réalité que les ouvrages situés au centre de la création cervantine : en effet, ils explorent des espaces imaginaires frôlant parfois l'invraisemblance et s'éloignent, ce faisant, de ce qui nous semble être le fondement du roman moderne. C'est donc à partir de ce premier constat que le présent travail s'est progressivement construit cherchant à comprendre les raisons de ces particularités décelables dans les oeuvres liminaires d'un auteur dont l'" ingenio " a si souvent été loué. Aussi s'agira-t-il de déceler des similitudes entre ces deux romans, mais surtout de les replacer dans leur contexte d'écriture : l'imagination et l'imaginaire constitueront les fils directeurs de cette étude qui tentera de montrer la capacité de ces ouvrages à répondre aux attentes d'un lectorat et des théoriciens sans pour autant négliger l'entreprise consistant à élaborer une écriture libre et libérée : une écriture de l'imaginaire

In Chapter 1, I posit a hypothesis about the way sensory input, memory, and imagination mingle in the mind, with the result that what we seem to experience is not actually all present in the outside world, but instead a blending of the three. External stimuli invoke, or call to mind, memories of old experiences as well as old imaginings ¡K which bring about newly blended images. Since these blended images are not based entirely on actual experiences but instead on imagined scenes that are often inspired by creative art, they are frequently inaccurate. Nevertheless, the mind does not always make a distinction between what is true and what is merely assumed, leading to synecdochic fallacies and misconfirmed assumptions. I also describe how the initial impression of the Romanies was specifically an intentional image-forging attempt, which would have given settled Europe a favorable impression if some of the Romanies had not been caught breaking the law; as it was, both the favorable and unpleasant sides became lasting elements of the image, developed during the two pioneering decades following the initial meetings in 1417. In the next two chapters, I examine how the processes I describe played out in Western culture, developed in the media of literature, which branched sharply off from reality and took on a stereotypical life all its own. The last chapter demonstrates how this divergence of reality and imagination is today as strong as ever, and also how the two are blended in the perceptions of today's Western mind. The end of the chapter takes all the preceding material into consideration, and proposes some ideas how the Western experience of interacting with the real Romany and the imaginary Gypsy¡Xand my examination of this interaction¡Xcan help us to learn from history, and historical errors¡Xto use the natural processes described to good purpose: to remove the unhealthy and harmful negative (i. e. false) Gypsy image from the Romanies. This sort of action is like removing the stigma of shame from someone who has reformed. Then the public imagination must be engaged, so that the stereotype-gap (one sort of information gap) is filled in with the image of the Romani as a real human group. If this ¡§paradigm shift,¡¨ if it is not too incorrect to term it so, is achieved skillfully, the Roma may soon have a better chance of being related to more fairly, and the Gypsy image, which many have implied is somehow ¡§needed¡¨ by the Western mind as the ¡§epitome of freedom,¡¨ will be seen as a false, though charming, image, and further, confidence tricksters might even be referred to as the criminals they really are, whether or not they are Roma¡Xwithout using the derogatory term ¡§gypsy criminal.¡¨

This study was undertaken among teachers in different schools of Sweden and among several teachers with experience in teaching drama during February and March 2006. The aim was to explore what the beneficial aspects of working with drama outdoors are and simultaneously to examine any problems that may appear and what kind of activities the teachers believe are more conducive to outdoor settings. Qualitative research methods were used for this study. An open questionnaire was sent to eight drama teachers for their opinion on doing drama activities in outdoor environments. Also, activities recommended for using in outdoor settings were prepared and send to several teachers, some of whom had previous experience working outdoors. They were asked later in an open questionnaire to evaluate the relative success of the activities they managed to do and the positive aspects and problems they encountered in doing the activities in outdoor settings. Additionally, some unstructured observations of two different groups took place in two elementary schools. The research reveals that in general terms, the teachers encountered many beneficial outcomes of using drama activities in outdoor environments and they encountered some problems as well. This study demonstrates the relative success and benefits of drama activities in outdoor environments and addresses some common problems that may appear. It contains a variety of drama activities that can be useful to teachers who are interested in working with drama in the outdoors. The discussion includes some recommendations for teachers.

A review of the literature in several domains reveals that moral imagination plays a role in how we deliberate about moral issues and what motivates us to act in a moral way. This study begins by outlining an operational definition of moral imagination based largely on Dewey’s model of dramatic rehearsal (Dewey, 1922), along with an explication of the role of image schemas, metaphor, empathy, and narrative in moral imagination (Johnson, 1993) and an examination of how moral imagination develops through the lifespan. A review of the research of the components of moral imagination is included, especially in the literature of moral development, problem solving, and creativity, as well as a proposal of an avenue of research to advance the understanding of this vital and complex human capacity. The study continues with an investigation of a curriculum designed to foster the cognitive processing of empathic emotions stimulated by viewing film clips from Hollywood-produced films. The curriculum stimulates moral imagination by offering situations in which participants can place themselves and then discuss possible moral outcomes. The curriculum is thought to aid in the development of moral expertise by exposing participants to a perspective-taking script from childhood (Hoffman, 2000) and making that script chronically accessible to the participant (Lapsley & Narvaez, in press). Three hundred sixty-six students (grades third through eighth) enrolled in after-school programs in two rural Georgia counties were randomly assigned to either an intervention or control group. The content of the intervention was delivered in a 3-week period in one county and in a 9-week period in the other. Results indicate that the longer intervention produced more gains in moral theme recognition (MTI; Narvaez, Gleason, Mitchell, & Bentley, 1999) compared to the shorter intervention. Participants in the shorter intervention demonstrated an attraction to moral theme statements reflecting higher stages of moral reasoning after the intervention than before compared to a control group from the same county. While further study is warranted, it appears the curriculum initiated a transition to higher stage reasoning in some of the participants.

Recent research has revealed many similarities between episodic memory, scene construction, and imagination of the future. It has been suggested that scene construction is the common process underlying memory and imagination, but no study to date has directly compared all three abilities. The present study compared retrieval time, ratings of detail and vividness for episodic memories, remembered scenes and imagined future events cued by landmarks of high and low familiarity. Memories, scenes, and imagined episodes based on a more familiar landmark as a cue were more quickly retrieved, more detailed, and more vivid. This study was the first to demonstrate the effects of frequent encounters with a cue on memory, scene construction and imagination of the future. Additionally, consistent results across conditions, as well as stronger effects in the scene construction condition, provide further evidence of a possible interdependence of episodic memory, imagination of the future, and scene construction.

Recent research has revealed many similarities between episodic memory, scene construction, and imagination of the future. It has been suggested that scene construction is the common process underlying memory and imagination, but no study to date has directly compared all three abilities. The present study compared retrieval time, ratings of detail and vividness for episodic memories, remembered scenes and imagined future events cued by landmarks of high and low familiarity. Memories, scenes, and imagined episodes based on a more familiar landmark as a cue were more quickly retrieved, more detailed, and more vivid. This study was the first to demonstrate the effects of frequent encounters with a cue on memory, scene construction and imagination of the future. Additionally, consistent results across conditions, as well as stronger effects in the scene construction condition, provide further evidence of a possible interdependence of episodic memory, imagination of the future, and scene construction.