Art As Witness

Helen T. Boursier

doi:10.5771/9781793628244

Summary

Art As Witness is an invitation for professors, researchers, clergy, educators, students, and activists to creatively integrate the arts in theology and religious studies for a practical theology of arts-based research that prioritizes public witness. This methodology challenges the traditional written word as being the privileged norm, arguing that this emerging research genre is an excellent, viable, and necessary option for research that supports, promotes, and publicizes liberating theology for the marginalized, victimized, and oppressed. It includes a detailed case study of “Art Inside Karnes,” the all-volunteer arts-based ministry of presence the author facilitated inside a for-profit immigrant family detention center that became the Power of Hope traveling art exhibit for education, advocacy, and public witness. This primer covers practical ethical, legal, and political matters; includes pedagogical examples for how to use arts-based research for student assessment in theology and religious studies; and provides an overview of arts options, including literary genres, visual arts, fabric arts, theater, filmmaking, and new media with digital content. Art as Witness features 40 illustrations, several case studies, and multiple contributing theologian-artists who engage the arts in themes that include immigration, HIV/AIDS, biblical studies, political protest, gender equity, gun law reform, racial justice, and more.

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Bibliographic data

Copyright year: 2021
ISBN-Print: 978-1-7936-2823-7
ISBN-Online: 978-1-7936-2824-4
Publisher: Lexington, Lanham
Language: English
Pages: 328
Product type: Book Titles

1. Dedication No access
2. Contents No access
3. List of Illustrations No access
4. 1. Notes No access
5. 1. Note No access
6. Acronyms and Terms No access
7. 1. Content Overview No access
  2. Notes No access
1. 1. The Mysterious Magic of Art No access
  2. What ABR Does: Benefits and Advantages for TRS No access
  3. Lectionary of ABR Terminology No access
  4. Interdisciplinary and Multifaceted No access
  5. ABR Eschatology: The Futurity Factor No access
  6. Notes No access
2. 1. Making the ABR → TRS Connection No access
  2. Inductive or Deductive Reasoning: TRS and ABR No access
  3. Symbolism and Visual Arts No access
  4. Cultivating ABR for TRS Practitioners No access
  5. ABR Examples from Parallel Disciplines No access
  6. ABR Data Collection No access
  7. ABR Data Reflection No access
  8. Data Representation No access
  9. ABR as a TRS Hermeneutic for Public Access No access
  10. Notes No access
3. 1. Commonalities and Key Themes in Practical Theology No access
  2. Integrating ABR in Methodological Considerations No access
  3. Characteristics of Practical Theology Research No access
  4. User-Friendly Public Accessibility No access
  5. Back to Praxis No access
  6. Notes No access
1. 1. Benefits for ABR Research Participants No access
  2. Do No Harm No access
  3. Privacy and Personal Agency No access
  4. Case Study for Ethical ABR: 30 Years / 30 Lives: Documenting a Pandemic No access
  5. An Unethical Example from Nuevo Laredo, Mexico No access
  6. Facial Representation: Ethical Pros and Cons No access
  7. Self-Awareness: ABR Ethical Considerations for Researchers No access
  8. Notes No access
2. 1. Intellectual Property Law Overview No access
  2. Fair Use: The Intersection of Ethics and the Law No access
  3. Permissions Requirements No access
  4. Protecting ABR Representation on the Internet No access
  5. Political Considerations No access
  6. Notes No access
3. 1. Ethical Informed Consent No access
  2. Art Inside Karnes: Participants and Parameters No access
  3. The Art/Reflection Process No access
  4. The Art Learning Experience No access
  5. Art as a Theology of Hope No access
  6. Amplifying Voices: Sharing Their Stories No access
  7. Notes No access
4. 1. Sorting the Data: Categorize, Organize Prioritize, Reflect, and Think No access
  2. Knowledge Collection Perspectives No access
  3. The Coding Process: Photography No access
  4. Organizing and Managing Print Research Sources No access
  5. Coding Research Journals No access
  6. The Hermeneutical Task: Reflection and Reflexivity No access
  7. Visualize the ABR Audience No access
  8. Preparing for the “Art Part” No access
  9. Notes No access
5. 1. Creating the Traveling Art Exhibit No access
  2. Artist Statement: Refugee Mothers and Children Seeking Asylum No access
  3. Custom Giclée Watercolor Prints from Digital Images of Original Artwork No access
  4. Artist Statement: The Art Ministry No access
  5. The Art/Reflection Process No access
  6. Multilayered Mixed Media Art No access
  7. Press Kit No access
  8. Power of Hope Art Opening No access
  9. Notes No access
1. 1. Letters and Nonfiction Essays No access
  2. Zines No access
  3. Poetry No access
  4. Journal 5 Instructions: Midterm Poetic Reflection No access
  5. The “Narrative Turn” and Creative Writing Examples No access
  6. Fiction: Essays, Short Stories, and Novels No access
  7. Comics No access
  8. Notes No access
2. 1. Photographs: What Is a Picture Worth? No access
  2. Collage No access
  3. Coronavirus Arts-Based Research Final Paper Creative Alternative No access
  4. Studio Arts: Drawing, Painting, and Sketching No access
  5. Collaboration and Source Options: Photography and Studio Arts No access
  6. Installation Art No access
  7. Notes No access
3. 1. Fabrications: An “Accidental” Fabric Arts Curator No access
  2. Needlework No access
  3. Quilts No access
  4. Notes No access
4. 1. Dance and Music No access
  2. Performance Art No access
  3. Theatre of the Oppressed and Other Theater Arts Variations No access
  4. Case Study: Dramatic Recitations and One-Person Plays No access
  5. Scriptwriting and Plays with Larger Casts No access
  6. Notes No access
5. 1. Entry-Level Digital Media Options No access
  2. Case Study: Trails of Hope and Terror: The Movie No access
  3. Social Media: Tweets, Facebook, Blogs, Websites, etc. No access
  4. Podcasts and Radio No access
  5. Notes No access
1. 1. Vulnerability and the Human Condition No access
  2. Battling Art/ist Stereotypes No access
  3. Procrastination: A Vulnerability ABR → TRS Stall Tactic No access
  4. Peer Review Risk: Dampening the Art Spirit No access
  5. Usefulness and ABR → TRS for Public Witness No access
  6. Embracing Vulnerability No access
  7. Vulnerability Example A: Middle-Aged Dramatist Playing a Teenage Mary No access
  8. Vulnerability Example B: When You Can’t Go Home No access
  9. Sociality of Vulnerability Includes Extended Connections No access
  10. Motivation for the ABR Message No access
  11. The Will to Do No access
  12. Notes No access
2. 1. Practical Theology Goes Public—Proposing a Theory of ABR Art as Action No access
  2. The Message for the Medium No access
  3. Choosing the Medium for the Message No access
  4. Find Your Niche and Fill It: Begin with What or Who You Know No access
  5. ABR → TRS Representation in the Public Square No access
  6. Notes No access
Appendices No access Pages 273 - 274
Appendix A: Sample “Cease and Desist” Letter No access Pages 275 - 276
Appendix B: ABR for TRS Data Filing System Example No access Pages 277 - 280
Appendix C: TRS Job Board Example: Keeping Track of Projects In and Out No access Pages 281 - 282
1. EXHIBITION AGREEMENT No access
Appendix E: Power of Hope Press Release Template No access Pages 285 - 288
1. Journal 5.1 Guest Speaker on Justice and Peacemaking No access
2. Journal 5.2 Textbook No access
3. Journal 5.3 Any assigned video or PDF. No access
4. Journal 5.4 Choose one overall theme that you learned during units 1–7. No access
5. Notes No access
Bibliography of Works Cited No access Pages 293 - 306
Index No access Pages 307 - 326
About the Author No access Pages 327 - 328