Cultural Aesthetic Experience: Perceptions of Learning Developed through Cultural Immersion

455 Pages·2016·6.18 MB·English

Georgia Southern University
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Electronic Theses and Dissertations Graduate Studies, Jack N. Averitt College of
Fall 2008
Cultural Aesthetic Experience: Perceptions of Learning
Developed through Cultural Immersion
Nicole Renai Harper
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through Cultural Immersion" (2008). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 479.
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CULTURAL AESTHETIC EXPERIENCE: PERCEPTIONS OF LEARNING
DEVELOPED THROUGH CULTURAL IMMERSION
by
NICOLE RENAI HARPER
(Under the Direction of Delores Liston)
ABSTRACT
This study explored the role of cultural aesthetic expressions (often also referred to in this
study as cultural arts) play in perceptions of learning while individuals are in the on-
going process of being immersed in a non-native culture. This inquiry focused
specifically on the narratives of seven expatriates undergoing the process of cultural
immersion in Germany, Slovenia and the United States. Using narrative inquiry
(Clandinin & Connelly, 2000; He, Phillion & Connelly, 2005), participants were engaged
in discussion, observation and interview for the purpose of exploring and analyzing how
they make meaning from previous knowledge and their developing encounters with
aesthetic expressions, perceived of as culturally diverse from or similar to their own.
The researcher’s narrative is included as a voice in the study, contributing to establishing
contextual elements as well as discussing perceptions of accessibility and awareness to
the aesthetic expressions in these cultures. It also includes insights reflecting upon
participant narratives, referencing additional research, and citing from formal interviews
and informal consultations with host-country community members who practiced in the
arts and education sectors of the respective cultures. The narratives included in this
dissertation offer significant evidence to suggest that intercultural literacy is developed in
part through aesthetic forms of cultural exchange for this set of participants. The results
of this study contribute to the discourse regarding how learning is perceived through
cultural aesthetic expressions during the cultural immersion process by revealing some of
the complex aspects of the meaning making process and presenting examples from lived-
experience of how cross-cultural complexities are navigated by a diverse sample of
individuals in relation to cultural aesthetic expressions.

INDEX WORDS: Aesthetic experience, Aesthetic expression, Cross-cultural experience,
Cultural arts, Cultural immersion, Cultural adaptation, Intercultural literacy, Learning,
Lived experience, Narrative inquiry
CULTURAL AESTHETIC EXPERIENCE: PERCEPTIONS OF LEARNING
DEVELOPED THROUGH CULTURAL IMMERSION

by

NICOLE RENAI HARPER
B.F.A., Eastern Michigan University, 1994
M.A., Michigan State University, 2001

A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Georgia Southern University in
Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree

DOCTOR OF EDUCATION

STATESBORO, GEORGIA
2008
© 2008
Nicole R. Harper
All Rights Reserved

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CULTURAL AESTHETIC EXPERIENCE: PERCEPTIONS OF LEARNING
DEVELOPED THROUGH CULTURAL IMMERSION
by
NICOLE RENAI HARPER

Major Professor: Delores Liston

Committee: Ming Fang He
Julie McGuire
Saundra Nettles

Electronic Version Approved:
December 2008
v
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I wish to thank my advisor, Delores Liston, for her guidance, patience and
encouragement in the conception through completion of this dissertation. I am also
pleased to thank my committee members: Ming Fang He, Julie McGuire and Saundra
Nettles, for their direction, collective expertise and flexibility. I am profoundly thankful
to all participants in the United States, Germany and Slovenia, who enriched my life by
sharing stories from their lives and contributed invaluably to this inquiry. I am honored
to thank the J. William Fulbright Foundation for financially supporting the Slovenia
portion of this study through the J. William Fulbright Fellowship Grant. Furthermore I
am grateful to the University of Primorska, the American Corner Koper, the United
States Embassy in Ljubljana and the government of the Republic of Slovenia for their
sponsorship while conducting research for this dissertation in Slovenia. I wish to also
thank the College of Education and the faculty and staff from the Curriculum,
Foundations and Reading Department at Georgia Southern University for the invaluable
Doctoral Fellow experience and scholarship assistance and to the of Jack N. Averitt
College of Graduate Studies for research grant assistance. I am pleased to recognize the
combined contributions of knowledge and encouragement from my professors at Georgia
Southern University during my coursework. I would also like to express gratitude to
friends at the University of Mainz, Performance and Media Studies Department for their
influence and participation. I am appreciative to my family and friends for their support,
motivation and interest. Finally, I am especially grateful to my husband, Tim for inspiring
me with love and encouragement. This dissertation is dedicated to my grandmother,
Shirley Kay who has always kept me in her prayers.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS…………………………………………………………….….vi
LIST OF TABLES……………………………………………………….........................ix
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS………………………………………………………..……x
CHAPTER
I Introduction………………..….………..………………………………………1
Study Overview……….…………………………………………………...2
Purpose of Study………………………………………………………......3
Research Questions……………………………………………………......5
Theoretical Framework...….……..……………………………………….6
II Literature Review…………...…...………………..………………………….10
Part 1: Cultural Immersion…..………………,,……………….….…….11
Part 2: Aesthetics & Education……..…………...………………………31
Part 3: Cultural Aesthetic Experience……..……………....…………….60
Part 4: Summary of Review and Significance of Study….……...............126
III Methodology…….……………...………….…….……..………………….130
Design of Study…………….…………………………………………...132
IV Field Data & Analysis……………………………………...…..………….150
Part 1: Narratives from Participants in the United States…..….……...152
Part 2: Narratives from Participants in Germany……....……………...227
Part 3: Narratives from Participants in Slovenia…..…...……………...282
V Conclusions…….………...………………….……………………………...380
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Findings………………………………...………………………………385
Limitations……………………………………………………………...392
Implications………………..……………………….…………………...392
REFERENCES…………………………………………………………………….…...398
APPENDICES
A Participant Background Questionnaire & Interview Questions…….…..…..424
B Revised Participant Background & Interview Questions……….……..……431
C Concept Definitions and Codes (as deemed necessary)…………….….…...433
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LIST OF TABLES
Page
Table 3.1: Participant Data (included narratives)………………….……….…………..143
Table 3.2: Participant Data (narratives not included)……...………………...…………144
Table 3.3: Local Participants (not presented in narrative form)………...….…………..145
Table 3.4: Research Timeline Table.………………………………….…….………….149
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