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Parks diss - FINAL (PDF-A).pdf (2.66 MB)

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Creating Through Challenge: The Lived Experience of Community College Arts Students, Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Parks, Amy C
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6540-0692
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1664129980383342

Abstract Details

2022, PHD, Kent State University, College of Education, Health and Human Services / School of Foundations, Leadership and Administration.
This phenomenological study examined how students at a large, urban community college experienced being an artist, before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. It also investigated the ways these students made meaning of their arts experiences. The research design was based upon the model outlined in Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (J.A. Smith et al., 2009). Data were drawn from interviews with a purposively selected sample of five students who had public performance or exhibiting experience in visual art, dance, music, or theater. The participants experienced emotions of happiness and joy in their arts practices, as well as a strong sense of satisfaction in their creative work. All of the students described elements of the psychological state of flow as a part of their artmaking. The participants’ arts experiences during the pandemic were varied, and were influenced by the unique circumstances of their lives. They made various practical adaptations to continue their creative practices. The pandemic provided a reflective space, in which the participants considered their personal and artistic priorities. They reported a keen sense of loss over their isolation from others during the pandemic. However, fundamental aspects of their arts experiences remained unchanged during this time. The participants found meaning in their art as a form of expression, in its capacity to connect them with others, and in their love for their creative work. These findings yield implications for strengthening connections between two- and four-year arts programs, utilizing the arts’ capacity for building community, and considering new approaches to collegiate arts education.
Martha Merrill (Committee Chair)
Mark Kretovics (Committee Member)
Alicia Crowe (Committee Member)
Craig Resta (Committee Member)
263 p.
Adult Education; Art Education; Dance; Education; Fine Arts; Higher Education; Music; Music Education; Performing Arts; Theater
community college; arts; pandemic; COVID; art; music; dance; theater; flow; expression; phenomenology; lived experience; student experience; arts experience; arts education; student transfer

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Parks, A. C. (2022). Creating Through Challenge: The Lived Experience of Community College Arts Students, Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic [Doctoral dissertation, Kent State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1664129980383342

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Parks, Amy. Creating Through Challenge: The Lived Experience of Community College Arts Students, Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic. 2022. Kent State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1664129980383342.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Parks, Amy. "Creating Through Challenge: The Lived Experience of Community College Arts Students, Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic." Doctoral dissertation, Kent State University, 2022. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1664129980383342

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

kent1664129980383342
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© 2022, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Kent State University and OhioLINK.