Arts, Creativities, and Learning Environments in Global Perspectives

We live in a patriarchal world where women view themselves through the scripted lens of imperfection. Contemporary social media intensifies this message. Girls are bombarded with unnatural presentations of beauty, which they are told they will never achieve. Current research into the impact of social media, specifically Instagram and Tik Tok reveals its relationship to eating disorders and to other adolescent mental health identity issues.

Transforming the perception of female identity in modern western society will require a deep cultural facelift as well as a celebration of that transformation.

This book draws attention to the patriarchal mandates placed upon women during the 1960s. The author explores the combined impact which media and maternal influences had upon her adolescent identity development inclusive of anorexia. This volume includes two distinct parts: Part 1 (“She Speaks”) the author’s pre-adolescent memoir, and Part 2 (“They Speak”) an exploration of historical, psychological, and social identity influencers as well as an arts-based workshop designed to empower adolescent girls. You the reader, may choose to first immerse yourself in the narrative (Part 1) or to stand back and get an overview (Part 2), prior to that immersion.

Through her use of the scholarly personal narrative and braided essay form, McGowan weaves strands of rhetoric with creative writing, navigating complex themes with academic rigor and emotional introspection. Her blend of equal parts humor, gravitas, and scholarship invites readers to explore the complexities of being a woman in a male-dominated world while looking at how writers might use coping mechanisms and transgressive workarounds, from code-switching to storytelling.

With critical analyses of feminist discourse and a roadmap for navigating the ever-evolving landscape of gender politics, the essays in this book challenge us to rethink traditional thinking about gender and equality. Writing is Revision is a call to action, an ode to the power of the written word for anyone interested in feminism and literature.

There is a lack of control that exists when managing a chronic illness, just as there is a lack of autonomy when one finds themselves living within the confines of a correctional facility. How does one address these two precarious circumstances when they collide? Research has revealed that incarcerated populations have a higher rate of infectious disease and chronic health issues than their non-incarcerated counterparts.

How is this reality translated in a way that others might understand? As an avenue to gain a new perspective, this book provides a glimpse into the world of incarceration and health care management, using art to translate this experience.

Activist art is effective and powerful for both the audience and the creator. By revealing the reality of living with a chronic illness and how social determinants of health significantly impact one’s status and start in life, art holds the power to shift perspectives and deepen understandings not only of health care and incarceration but also to agitate for societal changes.

The magical images and protest tools of Artemisia Gentileschi to Amanda Yates Garcia, also known as the Oracle of LA, are revealed in this book. Art Witches have created powerful images that resonate with beauty and activism, from Italian courtrooms in the 1500s to binding spells for the US Trump presidency in 2016.

For the first time, this book connects the genealogy of the image of the witch from historical to contemporary artists. It intertwines artistic purpose with social ills and equity issues and probes how this narrative is exposed and curated in museums and memorials focused on witchcraft.

The collection of images, artist interviews, and a case study of the two artists that make up Hilma’s Ghost provide recognition and a new context for this important and rapidly growing art movement.

Contemporary art must get inspiration from somewhere. In Tea, Automatons, and Time Machines, the subculture of Steampunk art is studied in relation to art history. Addressing three main topics within social and environmental justice, a comparison of art styles and creativity stems from an artist’s passion within popular culture.

Using arts-based research methods and personal introspection viewed through the lens of nostalgia, a unique perspective of art history studies comes to life. Nostalgia, being primarily a psychological study, is used as a lens to view art, culture, and memoir into a complete research project.

We live in a world in need of change. Historically, artists have provided a means for change through their work and the lives they choose to live. The vastness of art history provides plenty of room for inspiration and interpretation. In this study, the contemporary sub-culture of Steampunk looks nostalgically at Arts and Crafts, Art Nouveau, and Art Deco eras in a way that paves the way for social change and environmental preservation using fantasy, cos-play, and art to demonstrate needed changes. Through the art and culture of Steampunk, we explore areas that could use improvement in our modern world, and yet, they do tie in with similar occurrences of the past. We find that we’re not that different but with art and demonstration, we too, can make positive changes for our future.

We live in a world where conversations about trauma are becoming commonplace and adopted people are using their voices to educate the general public about the effects of maternal separation and genealogical bewilderment. But for many adult adoptees the act of speaking truth to power is still fraught. Personal writing can unlock long held silences and help adult adoptees feel empowered to rewrite their narratives.

The need to deconstruct dominant narratives about adoption and its inherent loss and trauma is necessary if we are to reform an institution that has damaged many generations of mothers and children. Because many adoptees do not have access to adoption and trauma competent therapists, writing is an accessible therapeutic modality that can be used to reframe narratives that position adoptees as the object rather than the subject. 

Adult Adoptees and Writing to Heal shares the framework and method of using writing as a practice for adult adoptees, therapists, teachers, and researchers interested in learning how to migrate and heal embodied trauma. It analyzes lived experience and the author’s own writing to develop a methodology for moving toward wholeness by writing and speaking the truth of internal adoptee experiences.

Scholarship on artistic output during second wave feminism (SWF) primarily reflects art-genres such as visual art, performance art, literature, and poetry. In The Women’s Music Movement: Music as Feminist Praxis, 1973–1980, Paul Ambrose Shaw III contends the women’s music movement (WMM) was a vibrant locus of feminist activity during SWF but received comparatively less scholarly attention. Specifically, Shaw conducts a content analysis of five songs recorded between 1973 and 1980. As such, he draws on musical elements and structures, poetic and lyrical devices, personal insights from the artists, and feminist theory to explore the following important questions: What can we learn about second wave feminist movement through the lens of the women’s music movement? Was the women’s music movement, as some scholars and activists assert, simply a cultural and lifestyle movement, or an impactful locus of feminist praxis? Through a detailed analysis of five songs recorded by stalwarts of WMM—Meg Christian, Cris Williamson, Ferron, Holly Near, and Linda Tillery—Shaw argues for the importance of WMM as a vibrant center of struggle, growth, and creativity that serves as a model for modern social movement cultural activity.

This volume, created by seventeen interdisciplinary authors, brings together pioneering practices that introduce arts into education in Japan. The field of research ranges from kindergarten, primary and secondary school to liberal arts and postgraduate courses at university. The chapters cover both formal and informal settings, such as museums and after school programs. The genres of art include visual art, performance, dance, vocal music, and drama.

Arts-based or arts-inspired methods help students’ artistic inquiry through creative or performative practices, leading to new findings that might not otherwise be described. Artistic practice makes students reflect on their own bodies, emotions, feelings, ways of life, and relationships with others, which leads to creative thinking.

The volume is based on three new trends in art and education: 1) the development of Arts-Based Research in Japan since its introduction from abroad; 2) the introduction of art practice into academic research in various disciplines and diverse educational settings; and 3) the new trend in drama education and theatrical performance in Japan.

Each chapter inspires and provokes discussion among researchers and practitioners in various educational settings on the future direction of art education in Japan and around the world.

Through this book, the author shares the nomadology of Alys-we searching for the Ideal School. Fed up with the System, traditional mainstream education directed by neoliberalism and high-stakes testing, Alys travelled to over 180 places of learning/schools in 23 countries that were educating differently. Through performative autoethnographic-we the author shares these embodied experiences in poems, vignettes, journaling and ethnodrama. Alys realised that the Ideal School is an oxymoron and she argues that schools and schooling, even within innovative education, are not the future for learning.

By developing the edge-ucation and sharing stories from the ‘gems’ that currently exist in places of learning/schools, there is the potentiality and hope for a paradigm shift. The book encourages everyone to become School Tourists themselves. Performing School Tourism is a mediation between creativity, arts, learning and teaching, leading to change as it helps shape the identity of those performing School Tourism and allows them to add these new experiences and understandings of the possibilities for education to the Earth-we, the collective consciousness of the world. Read this book to follow Alys’ journey as they share stories and trouble different innovative pedagogies (including Steiner Waldorf, Progressive, Democratic, and Montessori). The reader can choose their own adventure, following the rhizomatic multiple voices of Alys-we.