Eating from the Tree of Knowledge: the Impact of Visual Culture on The
EATING FROM THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE: THE IMPACT OF VISUAL CULTURE ON THE PERCEPTION AND CONSTRUCTION OF ETHNIC, SEXUAL, AND GENDER IDENTITY Andrés Peralta, B.S., M.A. Dissertation Prepared for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS December 2010 APPROVED: Rina Kundu, Major Professor Christina Bain, Committee Member Nadine Kalin, Committee Member Denise A. Baxter, Interim Chair of the Department Art Education and Art History Robert W. Milnes, Dean of the College of Visual Arts and Design James D. Meernik, Acting Dean of the Robert B. Toulouse School of Graduate Studies Peralta, Andrés. Eating from the tree of knowledge: The impact of visual culture on the perception and construction of ethnic, sexual, and gender identity. Doctor of Philosophy (Art Education), December 2010, 309 pp., 4 illustrations, reference list, 179 titles. This study explores the way that visual culture and identity creates understanding about how the women in my family interact and teach each other. In the study issues of identity, liminality, border culture, are explored. The study examines how underrepresented groups, such as those represented by Latinas, can enter into and add to the discourses of art education because the women who participated have learned to maneuver through the world, passing what they have learned to one another, from one generation to the next. Furthermore, the study investigates ways in which visual cues offer a way for the women in my family to negotiate their identity. In the study the women see themselves in signs, magazines, television, dolls, clothing patterns, advertisements, and use these to find ways in which to negotiate the borderlands of the places in which they live.
[Show full text]