Animated Autoethnographies: Using Stop Motion
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ANIMATED AUTOETHNOGRAPHIES: USING STOP MOTION ANIMATION AS A CATALYST FOR SELF-ACCEPTANCE IN THE ART CLASSROOM Jeremy Michael Blair Dissertation Prepared for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS August 2015 APPROVED: Laura Evans, Major Professor Terry Barrett, Committee Member Mary Stokrocki, Committee Member Amy Kraehe, Committee Member Mickey Abel, Interim Chair of the Department of Art Education Costas Tsatsoulis, Interim Dean of the Toulouse Graduate School Blair, Jeremy Michael. Animated Autoethnographies: Using Stop Motion Animation as a Catalyst for Self-Acceptance in the Art Classroom. Doctor of Philosophy (Art Education), August 2015, 181 pp., 34 figures, references, 329 titles. As a doctoral student, I was asked to teach a course based on emerging technologies and postmodern methods of inquiry in the field of art education. The course was titled Issues and Applications of Technology in Art Education and I developed a method of inquiry called animated autoethnography for pre-service art educators while teaching this course. Through this dissertation, I describe, analyze, interrogate, value, contextualize, reflect on, and artistically react to the autoethnographic animated processes of five pre-service art educators who were enrolled in the course. I interviewed the five participants before and after the creation of their animated autoethnographies and incorporated actor-network theory within the theoretical analysis to study how the insights of my students’ autoethnographies related to my own animations and life narratives. The study also examines animated autoethnography as a method of inquiry that may develop or enhance future teaching practices and encourage empathic connections through researching the self. These selected students created animations that accessed significant life moments, personal struggles, and triumphs, and they exhibited unique representations of self. Pre-service art educators can use self-research to create narrative-based short animations and also use socio-emotional learning to encourage the development of empathy within the classroom. I show diverse student examples, compare them to my own animations, and present a new model of inquiry that encourages the development of self by finding place in chaos, loving the unknown, embracing uncertainty, and turning shame into a celebration of life. Copyright 2015 by Jeremy Michael Blair ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I could not have had a better advisor than Dr. Laura Evans. Her scholarship is awe- inspiring, and her constant encouragement and confidence in me as a student, scholar, and future colleague has been forever invaluable to my development as an art educator. Dr. Evans’ flexibility and compassion empowered me to create a dissertation I never thought was possible. She has convinced me that research needs to be personal, empathic, cathartic, and imperfect. In addition to Dr. Evans’ mentorship, an amazing committee of world-renowned art educators has supported me. Dr. Terry Barrett, Dr. Mary Stokrocki, and Dr. Amy Kraehe have been immensely influential throughout the duration of this project and my time as a doctoral student at UNT. I hope that my dissertation reflects their impressive careers and links my young career to their lifetime of achievements. I also want to acknowledge the support of Dr. Denise Baxter, who was the chair of the department of art education and art history during my four years as a student at the University of North Texas. Dr. Baxter’s candid feedback, openness, and support were essential to my success in the program. I cannot overemphasize the value of the personal and emotional support others have given me over the last several years, especially my parents, Jeff and Terri Blair, and my future wife, Bevin Butler. My cohort and professors at UNT were integral to establishing the high expectations I needed to thrive in the program. Without their support, I could not have been successful, nor could I have felt comfortable enough to write and design this emotional project. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................................................................................. iii LIST OF FIGURES ...................................................................................................................... vii PROLOGUE .................................................................................................................................. ix CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................... 1 Background ......................................................................................................................... 1 What is an Animated Autoethnography Project?................................................................ 5 Statement of the Problem .................................................................................................... 6 Research Questions and Objectives .................................................................................. 10 Design of the Study ........................................................................................................... 12 Theoretical Framework: Actor-Network Theory .................................................. 15 Context of the Study ............................................................................................. 18 Methods of Data Collection .................................................................................. 23 Data Analysis ........................................................................................................ 32 Significance of the Study .................................................................................................. 35 Limitations of Study ......................................................................................................... 38 Review of Literature and Media ....................................................................................... 45 Autoethnography................................................................................................... 45 Empathy in Art Education .................................................................................... 49 Animation ............................................................................................................. 52 Summary to Literature and Media Review ........................................................... 57 Conclusions ....................................................................................................................... 58 CHAPTER 2 TEACHING ANIMATED AUTOETHNOGRAPHY ........................................... 59 Course Structure and Classroom Practices ....................................................................... 59 Fusing Animation and Autoethnography .............................................................. 61 Animated Autoethnography Assignment Criteria and Lesson ............................. 63 Initial Teacher Discoveries ............................................................................................... 66 Impact of Student Animations on the Researcher............................................................. 66 Conclusions ....................................................................................................................... 68 iv CHAPTER 3 WRITING AND CURATING ............................................................................... 70 Animated Vignettes .......................................................................................................... 70 Curation of Animated Autoethnographies ............................................................ 73 Weaving of Participant’s and Researcher’s Animated Works .............................. 73 CHAPTER 4 ANIMATED AUTOETHNOGRAPHIES ............................................................. 75 Monster ............................................................................................................................. 75 Chris’ Animation: Monster ................................................................................... 77 Researcher’s Animated Response to Monster ...................................................... 83 Applying Actor-Network Theory to Monster ....................................................... 86 Forming Self ......................................................................................................... 89 Here and Away .................................................................................................................. 91 Alex’s Animation: Here and Away ....................................................................... 92 Researcher’s Animated Response to Here and Away ........................................... 96 Reconstructing Social Spaces ............................................................................. 100 Bad Choices Aren’t Genetic ............................................................................................ 101 Chelsea’s Animation: Bad Choices Aren’t Genetic ............................................ 102 Researcher’s Animated Response to Bad Choices Aren’t Genetic ..................... 106 Applying Actor-Network Theory to Bad Choices Aren’t Genetic ..................... 110 Attentive Living .................................................................................................. 111 Rupture ...........................................................................................................................