This is a full length dissertation which explores the role of the arts in the transformation of consciousness. First the author researched the principles of the new sciences with regard to how shifts in consciousness are understood to happen. She then applied the concepts to herself as she immersed in a program of fine arts studying acting for film and television. Using an organic research design which explicitly engaged spirit in the process, she explored shifts in her own consciousness as well as how the performing arts act as a transformative tool for others. Devoted to a path of assisting the shift in consciousness to a worldview which honors spirit, the researcher explores and describes her lived experiencing of the topic with the intention of inspiring transformative changes of heart in her readers.

Learning in and through the visual arts can develop complex and subtle aspects of the mind. Reviews in: Journal of aesthetic education. 38(2004)4(Winter. 71-98), available M05-194.

Framing Consciousness in Art examines how the conscious mind enacts and processes the frame that both surrounds the work of art yet is also shown as an element inside its space. These `frames-in-frames¿ may be seen in works by Teniers, Velázquez, Vermeer, Degas, Rodin, and Cartier-Bresson and in the films of Alfred Hitchcock and Buñuel. The book also deals with framing in a variety of cultural contexts: Indian, Chinese and African, going beyond Euro-American formalist and aesthetic concerns which dominate critical theories of the frame.

Art educ. text presents philosophical & psych. theories dealing w/ art cog., vision, & perception; discusses how these theories are evidenced in both mature artists and K-12 students; examines how they may be used to shape school art learning environment

The essays collected in this volume were initially presented at the Third International Conference on Consciousness, Theatre, Literature and the Arts, held at the University of Lincoln, May 16-18, 2009. The conference was organised on the basis of the success of its predecessors in 2005 and 2007, and on the basis of the success of the Rodopi book series Consciousness, Literature and the Arts, which has to date seen twenty-one volumes in print, with another twelve in press or in the process of being written. The 2009 conference and the book series highlight the continuing growth of interest within the interdisciplinary field of consciousness studies, and in the distinct disciplines of theatre studies, literary studies, film studies, fine arts and music in the relationship between the object of these disciplines and human consciousness. Fifty-six delegates from twenty-one countries across the world attended the May 2009 conference in Lincoln; their range of disciplines and approaches is reflected well in this book.

The essays collected in this volume were initially presented at the Fifth International Conference on Consciousness, Theatre, Literature and the Arts, held at the University of Lincoln, June 15–17, 2013. The conference was organised on the basis of the success of its predecessors in 2005, 2007, 2009 and 2011, and on the basis of the success of the Rodopi book series Consciousness, Literature and the Arts, which has to date seen 34 volumes in print, with another 12 in press or in the process of being written. The 2013 conference and the book series highlight the continuing growth of interest within the interdisciplinary field of consciousness studies, and in the distinct disciplines of theatre studies, literary studies, film studies, fine arts and music in the relationship between the object of these disciplines and human consciousness. 35 delegates from 12 countries across the world attended the June 2013 conference in Lincoln; their range of disciplines and approaches is reflected well in this book.

Art has the power to affect our thinking, changing not only the way we view and interact with the world but also how we create it. Art can be considered as a commanding force with the capacity to shape our intellect and intervene in our lives. Art is a historical agent, or a cultural creator, that propels thought and experience forward. The author demonstrates that art serves a socially constructive function by actually experimenting with the parameters of thought, employing work from artists as Picasso, Watteau, Bacon, Dumas and Matthew Barney. Art confronts viewers with the 'pain points' of cultural experience, and thereby transforms the ways in which human existence is concieved.

Cultural Awareness in Teaching Art and Design addresses an emerging area of development in contemporary pedagogy, the fostering of cultural awareness and sensitivity in the designers of tomorrow. By offering new and unique examples of how to better educate students around issues of cultural awareness, this book presents teaching methodologies that ultimately facilitate students in becoming better, and more inclusive, art and design professionals. Today, the role of education in the addressing of social and cultural issues is increasingly seen as central to pedagogical methodologies. Through engaged teaching, experiential learning, socially orientated pedagogy or any other definition, the idea that students can and should be exposed to, and deal with, issues of importance to various stakeholders is increasingly seen as central to the teaching and learning experience – whether it be in relation to local communities, national economies, regional cultural identities or more. This is explored in a series of innovative, cross-disciplinary case studies in art and design teaching, with authors approaching questions of cultural awareness and engagement through the lenses of art history, product design, communication design, film, architecture and interior design. In presenting their pedagogical methodologies and case studies, the authors in this text offer a unique cross-disciplinary design perspective that captures the cultural and social concerns of several regions of the world: Europe, North America, Asia and Africa and the Middle East. This book will be essential reading for art and design educators and students interested in developing and applying models of cultural awareness and engagement in the classroom and studio.

The project of naturalizing human consciousness/experience has made great technical strides (e.g., in mapping areas of brain activity), but has been hampered in many cases by its uncritical reliance on a dualistic “Cartesian” paradigm (though as some of the authors in the collection point out, assumptions drawn from Plato and from Kant also play a role). The present volume proposes a version of naturalism in aesthetics drawn from American pragmatism (above all from Dewey, but also from James and Peirce)—one primed from the start to see human beings not only as embodied, but as inseparable from the environment they interact with—and provides a forum for authors from diverse disciplines to address specific scientific and philosophical issues within the anti-dualistic framework considering aesthetic experience as a process of embodied meaning-making. Cross-disciplinary contributions come from leading researchers including Mark Johnson, Jim Garrison, Daniel D. Hutto, John T. Haworth, Luca F. Ticini, Beatriz Calvo-Merino. The volume covers pragmatist aesthetics, neuroaesthetics, enactive cognitive science, literary studies, psychology of aesthetics, art and design, sociology.

Who are you? When are you? What were you conscious of a moment ago? Susan Blackmore combines the latest scientific theories about mind, self, and consciousness with a lifetime’s practice of Zen. Framed by ten critical questions that are derived from Zen’s teachings, Zen and the Art of Consciousness explores how intellectual enquiry and meditation can expand your understanding and experience of consciousness and tackle some of today’s greatest scientific mysteries.