→ Tools of the Trade: Needlework in Louise Bourgeois’ Do Not Abandon Me

Abstract:  

Louise Bourgeois’ process is characterized by the creation, destruction, and reiteration of an iconography of her own devising. Each recurring symbol represents a source of anxiety that she grapples with by making work. In Do Not Abandon Me, these symbols appear in the form of the tools used to make the work, exerting their quiet influence to great effect. The covert symbolism of needleworking tools provides a framework for the complex polarities embedded in this sculpture.


→ Crafting Community: The interaction of embodied minds

Abstract:  

It is imperative to reconsider what it means to learn and to know in order to become more effective arts educators. In this paper, I address the lessons that craft training can teach us about the role of the body and of the community in learning. I focus on the study of basketmaking courses through a series of ethnographic case studies from the vantage point of a participant observer, bolstered by autoethnography. My findings highlight that learning is a social practice characterized by the interaction of embodied minds.


→ Embodied Minds: The cognitive science of the mind-body problem and its implications for education

Abstract:

Through the lens of cognitive science – more specifically through philosophy, developmental psychology and neuroscience – this paper argues for the inextricable relationship between the body and the brain. Referred to as the embodied mind, this link represents an important implication for how we teach and learn.