<p> This was a quantitative, non-experimental, cross-sectional research study that surveyed California homeschooling parents with children in grades K-6 during the 2016&ndash;17 academic year. The purpose was to discover the methodologies and activities California homeschooled K-6th grade students received and experienced in the four arts disciplines: music, dance, theater and fine art. The data was collected through an online survey and a random representation of the research participants. The data collected included collecting specific information regarding arts activities and lessons, the approximated time and hours of instruction, and the locations or places where the lessons and activities were conducted. There were a total of 178 responses collected from the research participants. The overall participation rates within the four arts disciplines for this sample population of California homeschooling students in grades K-6 during the 2016&ndash;17 year in music was 80.34%, dance was 48.32%, theater was 52.81% and visual arts was 94.39%. The specific activities, lessons, time and locations were analyzed and discussed. This research concluded that the sample population participates in visual arts activities and lessons mainly in the home, and music, dance, and theater activities and lessons are experienced at private studios or theaters. It was additionally noted that just over 11% of the California homeschooling parents participating referenced the VAPA standards.</p><p>

This article considers the impact of new technologies on the adolescent experience of live, literary theatre. Drawing together the work of theorists in literacies, new technologies and audience studies, together with brain research, and the results of a focus group of four secondary students who have seen four plays at Canada's National Arts Centre, it examines the consequences of young people's immersion in digital culture and the new mindset that often results. The expectation of instant access to data, inter-connectivity, stimulation and control can make it difficult for adolescents to decode the metaphorical aspects of a theatrical performance. The article concludes that language arts and dramatic arts educators have a key role in teaching students how to decode---and therefore enjoy and appreciate---a play. Keywords: theatre, new technologies, new literacies, school audiences, youth audiences, discourse, space, audience studies

Thesis advisor: Ellen Winner / Actors make imagined characters in imaginary circumstances come alive, as if they were real. What cognitive processes make it possible for actors to accomplish this feat? The goal of this dissertation was to examine three characteristics that actors may possess and that might make this possible: dissociation, flow, and empathy. Acting students (n = 44) and non-acting students (n = 43) first completed a baseline measure of dissociation, and then performed a monologue that was given to them. This performance was recorded and later rated on dimensions of acting. Participants next completed self-report measures of dissociation, flow, and empathy. It was hypothesized that acting students would score higher than non-acting students on all three measures, and that dissociation of all participants would increase post-performance. I also assessed whether acting experience, dissociation, flow, empathy, and/or the time taken to prepare the monologue for performance predicted performance ratings. The results revealed that acting students scored significantly higher than non-acting students on flow (and some of its subscales) and empathy (and some of its subscales). Although no group differences emerged on pre-performance levels of dissociation, only acting students significantly increased their level of dissociation post-performance. Finally, acting experience was the only significant predictor of performance ratings for both acting and non-acting students. This research demonstrates that, compared to non-acting students, acting students report higher levels of empathy and flow immediately after performing a monologue. Additionally for acting students, levels of dissociation rise after performing the monologue. Empathy and dissociation are likely important tools used by actors to “become” a character, and flow is likely the result of actors’ ability to immerse themselves fully in the performance. Nevertheless, acting experience is the strongest predictor of how a performance will be rated. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2018. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Psychology.

Sammanfattningsvis ser man att designen fungerar ändamålsenligt för ett skapandeprojekt i relation till Skolverkets kunskapskrav och att begreppet konstnärlig process genomförs på ett gestaltande sätt. Själva begreppet konstnärlig process tydliggörs eller medvetandegörs inte verbalt i så stor utsträckning annat än i projektets början, men lärprocessens utformning som ett projekt kan kroppsligt vara en konkretisering av en konstnärlig process. Det är främst det aktiva fysiska deltagandet i den konstnärliga processen som uppfattas som en kunskapsskapande aktivitet. Denna aktivitet kan dock verbaliseras mer explicit vilket i sin tur kan göra lärprocessen av en konstnärlig process mer tydlig och därmed begriplig. Lärprocessen i sig blir genom designen av projektet en gestaltning av en konstnärlig process. I de lösningsinriktade deliberativa samtalen är publikens fokus, dansarens upplevelse och verkets uttryck ständigt aktuellt. Genom samtalen växer och formas stycket till sin slutliga koreografi. Danseleverna får utrymme i improviserandet att undersöka och pröva egna personliga dansuttryck där samtalen kring valen av rörelsematerial verbaliserar materialet. Genom argumenteringen i de deliberativa samtalen synliggör och förtydligas både temat och tankarna kring detta, stycket blir mer konkret. Eleverna lär sig samtidigt hur man agerar i en demokratisk process, ett för Skolverket övergripande mål för alla gymnasieelever. Designen gestaltar konkret vad designteoretikern Lijnse menar med ”guidens from above and freedom from below” (1995, s. 192) och där rundan fyller funktionen av förberedande metod, trygghet och identitetsskapande. I designen tillåts eleverna genom det kollektiva arbetet med skapandet av en koreografi både kollektivt och individuellt tillägna sig Skolverket kunskapsmål (2011b) och visa förståelse och förmåga att med handledning genomföra en konstnärlig process. De tecken på kunskap som lyfts fram och blir synliggjorda i relation till begreppet konstnärlig process tydliggörs mest i processen genom de didaktiska verktygen, rundan och deliberativa samtalen. Detta tack vare att eleverna i gruppen visade sig engagerade i temat och aktiva i processen. En mindre engagerad grupp, under andra förhållanden och med mindre aktiva deltagare skulle kunna ge andra resultat beträffande kunskapsutveckling och förståelse av konstnärlig och demokratisk process. Kunskapstransformationen eleverna emellan får utrymme och handlingsalternativen inom fältets genre blir fler tack vare den kollaborativa skapandeaktiviteten. Meningsfullheten i sammanhanget och den meningsfulla aktiviteten i arbetet ligger främst i att eleverna tillsammans skapar och framför ett stycke danskonst samtidigt som de förtydligar sin egen individualitet i relation till varandra. De bygger på så sätt också en gemenskap som reducerar risken för konflikter och borgar för framtida effektiva samarbeten. Det dialogiska förhållningssättet som är signifikativt i designen ger en kontinuerlig utvärdering av skapandeprojektet för alla deltagarna både lärarna och eleverna. De deliberativa samtalen får liksom konstverket ett eget liv och blir som en drivande motor i projektet. I de deltagandes aktivitet ligger en energi och ett momentum som för hela projektet framåt. Här finns möjligheter för gruppdeltagarna att, där det kollaborativa arbetet innebär en verbalt och fysisk diskussion kring kommunikation och koreografiska val, fungera som språkutvecklande resurs för varandra i den konstnärliga processen. Kunskapsutvecklingen blir i verbaliseringen och språkliggörandet av innehållet i processen därmed också mer synlig för danslärarna och vilken kunskapsnivå eleverna uppnått. Genom det kollaborativa skapandet ingår varje elevs röst och rörelsespråk både i ett mindre, gruppens, och ett större samhälleligt, sammanhang. Detta uppfattar min kollega och jag som bidragande orsak till känslan av meningsfullhet. Att ha förmåga och kunna delta i samhällsdebatten är också ett tecken på demokratisk kompetens önskvärt av Skolverket (Englund 2000). Maktbalansen mellan lärare och elever jämnas ut genom de deliberativa samtalen och ägandeskapet av danskonstprodukten för över till elevgruppen och blir en engagerande faktor för alla elever. Dock är det svårt att bortse från danslärarnas egna kulturella kapital då designen utformas och projektet planeras. Det behöver inte vara negativt om både ämneskunskaper och danserfarenhet finns som kompetens och resurs i undervisningen. Inom skolans fält förekommer olika förhållningssätt både till transformation av kunskap och till elevens aktiva roll och dess inflytande över lärsituationen. Detta är också en tradition som elever inom dansutbildningar bär med sig. Det behöver medvetandegöras i en lärsituation för att utveckling av ämnesdidaktiken ska kunna ske. Studien av designen visar på vilket sätt undervisningen kan systematiseras och överföras och på så sätt förskjuta lärarens mästarposition över till eleverna och genom detta öka deras inflytande. I en grupp elever på gymnasiet finns ofta några som har dansat någon form av scenisk dans tidigare och därmed kroppsligt bär med sig mästar-lärling-traditionen. För elever nya för danskonstens undersökande förhållningssätt kan det vara en utmaning att ändra perspektiv och vara den som medverkar i konversationen verbalt och fysiskt med att utifrån sin egen åsikt beskriva en tolkning av egen eller någon annans rörelse. Genom designen som min kollega och jag utformat kan detta genomföras och systematiseras i både i dansgestaltning, men i förlängningen även i övrig undervisning. Metareflekterande deliberativa samtal, visar sig fungera som en drivande motor i processen och ge möjlighet till diskussioner om danskonsten som uttryck. De ger samtidigt möjlighet för varje enskild elev att få syn på sin egen konstnärliga röst, de individuella preferenserna och val en danskonstnär ställ inför i en konstnärlig process i speglingarna av övriga gruppmedlemmar. I metareflektionen intar varje elev en representation av sin erhållna kunskap vid det aktuella samtalstillfället. På så vis visar studien att de deliberativa samtalen inbegriper kunskapsutveckling ur flera aspekter. Att denna studie endast visar på en mindre del i en större design av en konstnärlig process kan anses begränsat, men man får se det som en i raden av flera skapandeprojekt i den större övergripande designen för eleverna i ämnet dansgestaltning under tre år. Studien kan även ses som en i raden av flera studier av design-för-lärande som i sin tur kan jämföras och diskuteras. Vad studien visar är att eleverna enskilt eller tillsammans kan driva, leda, skapa, uppleva, tolka och kulturellt utforma danskonst i sin kontext inom fältet och därmed ha tillräcklig kunskap för att genomföra en konstnärlig process. Resultatet visar således att den här studerade designen ger grundträning för en förståelse av och färdighet i en konstnärlig process. Eleverna har möjlighet att inom designens form tillägna sig vissa domänspecifika kunskaper tillhörande danskonstens fält, arbeta med ett för dem meningsfullt projekt, utveckla demokratisk förmåga samt få utrymme att pröva sin egen personliga konstnärliga röst inom ramen för designen.

This dissertation is about the ways in which modern war, modern medicine, and modern theatre have reciprocally shaped attitudes towards bodies. I argue that the rise of theatrical realism, taking models and metaphors from newly technologized war and medicine, gives viewers the power to see into others, and envisions this force as a mark of superior humanity. I show how this gaze is engaged in performance events that dramatize war-as-medicine: from WWI theatre-for-the-troops depicting enemy soldiers as microbes, to the 2003 televised medical exam of Saddam Hussein. I argue that the tools and rhetoric of realism are instrumental in imagining distanced killing as a medicinal and sanitizing act, thus naturalizing violence-as-care. Over the same period, I study the work of military veteran theatre makers who have practiced theatre as an alternative medicine: healing not by distance and separation, but through a visceral connection between performers and spectators. Starting with Antonin Artaud’s theatrical “surgery,” I progress through chapters on Edward Bond, David Rabe, Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig, the Riot Group, and Sylvia Khoury. Taking theoretical frameworks from medical humanities and disability studies, and integrating methods from cognitive science and phenomenology, I explore how their theatre opens up corporeal space for resonance, receptivity, and transformation. I conclude by looking at current applied theatre projects bringing together groups of military service members and civilians, and healthcare providers and receivers. I argue that theatre is uniquely able to heal the selective numbing involved in military and medical training, by resensitizing bodies and relearning ways of caring for oneself and others.

This work is an annotated bibliography of original reed quintet repertoire. It can serve as a practical resource to musicians, reed quintets, composers, music educators and musical scholars of all levels. For each original composition, there are detailed annotations including information about the composer, title, instrumentation, year composed, length, genre, level, commissioning information, publisher, recording availability, a brief discussion of the form/style of the piece, and copyright information. Since annotations are only provided for original reed quintet repertoire, I have included four indexes of other reed quintet repertoire from 1985 until 2015: Original reed quintet music with additional parts, Arrangements, Arrangements including additional parts and Historical Reference. These indexes include titles, composers and arrangers of all arrangements, chamber repertoire, arrangements of chamber repertoire, and original repertoire with additional instruments. / A Treatise submitted to the College of Music in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Music. / Spring Semester 2016. / March 14, 2016. / Chamber Music, Quintet, Reed, Reed Quintet, Repertoire, Woodwind / Includes bibliographical references. / Deborah Bish, Professor Directing Treatise; Richard Clary, University Representative; Anne Hodges, Committee Member; Jonathan Holden, Committee Member.

Thesis advisor: Michael Barnett / Practitioners and scholars have begun to recognize the need to fracture disciplinary boundaries in K-12 learning settings in favor of more holistic approaches. STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics) education, in particular, has been proposed as a means to reimagine science education based on youths’ widespread interest in art, design, and making, and the encouragement of multiple forms of expression in these endeavors. This dissertation documents the development of an art-science program and research on the experiences of middle-school-aged participants, who predominantly identified as Latinx and bilingual, in three papers. In the first paper, I used design-based research to investigate how an art-science program evolved to support youths’ interests and disciplinary integration from a teacher perspective. A cross-case analysis of two program iterations yielded two design guidelines. First, it is important to create opportunities for youth to engage in STEAM education in ways that allow them to build on their interests while also cultivating desirable social images. Second, ongoing teacher collaboration and foregrounding youths’ development of project artifacts supported disciplinary integration. In the second paper, I draw on a longitudinal case study approach to investigate two focal youths’ enactment of art-science thinking practices—or practices common to artistic and scientific fields—over three program iterations. Results highlight three insights: (1) the program’s approach to disciplinary integration played a key role in which art-science thinking practices youth enacted and how; (2) the incorporation of multiple STEAM disciplines encouraged youth to build on a wide range of interests; and (3) developing artifacts supported youth to engage in STEAM projects while maintaining their social standing. The third paper is a practitioner study documenting the program design and outcomes regarding case study youths’ perspectives of art-science thinking practices. Results demonstrate how STEAM education can support youth to appreciate imagining and creating in the context of science. I conclude with the program’s successes and challenges and implications for in- and out-of-school STEAM practitioners and program designers. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2022. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Teacher Education, Special Education, Curriculum and Instruction.

This is a thesis - supposedly. It could also be a performance if you want. As an object it is detachable in that you can pick it up. Or download it. This thesis has edges. It has protrusions, indentations, connections and holes. Lots and lots of holes. That is because this is a thesis about and consisting of affordances. That is to say something that offers interaction. We’ll get into that in a bit. Suffice to say, my hope is that you feel free to read it or play with it in any way you see fit. Turn it into a paper airplane to see if it flies or set it on fire to warm your hands. Rearrange the pages if you want. This might affect the red thread that ties the pages all together, but that’s all the thread was there for. To tie things up and as something to hold onto.With that said, somewhere amongst all the following words, I’d like to think that there is something at least nominally related to Circus. That is because this is supposed to be a thesis about Contemporary Circus Practices. Well….about my own contemporary circus practice in any case. It feels kind of empowering to call my circus practice contemporary though, I must say.Com –Latin. Meaning with or together, and Tempus-Latin. Meaning time. With the times then! Though in all honesty it is probably a very anachronistic, sin temporary circus practise at best.Hmmm…remind me to look into the affordances of time.

The thesis could be described as a performative, reflexive review of my circus practice. Followingapproaches to writing that situate text as part of a practice, such as Jane Rendell's Site Writing, thatlooks at art criticism as a form of architecture, I approach writing as a form of circus. I think this holdstrue whether we adopt the position of circus as the place where events unfold (as in the circus tent) orthat it is the events themselves. I would note that this is not a unique proposition, and follows theprinciples of my classmates &amp; the direction of my course leader. Crucial to understanding this thesis is adecision to start from an approach to circus from a point of view that considers circus as theperformance of the relationship between body, object &amp; environment (following Sebastian Kann 2018).In the same way that my movement practice explores and performs this relationship, so does this text. Istarted out writing this thesis as a performance of the relationship between bodies, objects andenvironments. This works towards an expanded view of what circus could be, operating in a similar veinto notions of expanded choreography. I am hesitant to separate the practices of choreography fromcircus (as is sometimes the case with choreography and dance) - so as to avoid producing a Cartesian riftbetween body (dance) and choreography (mind) and a division between art (choreography) and craft(dance) - as discussed by Bojana Cvejic in the introduction to Choreographing Problems. It could beargued that in this instance, there is a body of text, an object of discussion and an environment ofacademia - though, as you will discover, I find the boundaries of body, object &amp; environment areslippery and shift register (in line with my movement practice).

Steadfast is an expression of dance as an emotional and spiritual experience, as well as an exploration of the deep connections that may be fostered through the art form of dance. My personal experience, which will function as inspiration for this choreographic piece and performance, has led me to see dance as a means to connect with God when used as worship and a way to connect with other people and form meaningful relationships. Through the production and execution of this performing art I hope to explore and experience these aspects of dance as well as my own personal journey. I learned a vast measure about myself in my four years of college that led to the development of who I am today. This composition is meant to mirror some of the emotions that I experienced in my time of growth; however, I don’t want my piece to try to tell a story or follow a sequence of events. Instead, I hope this dance provides the audience with more of a deep, emotional, and spiritual dive into the places that my heart and soul went during this time-period. Steadfast means so much to me, and as the culminating artistic presentation in my college career, I want to use my growth as an artist and individual to display an array of emotions to the audience. The dance is a cry for help and surrender, but it also expresses the feelings of joy, love, and hope that one might feel when they make it through a valley and find themselves standing on a mountaintop. This ensuing written work is a narrative of the chorographic process and explanation of the inspiration behind the production.