"Narrative Education: Arts-Based Curricula for Identity and Empathy Development” 

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• Abstract: This thesis establishes a case for educational reform with specific emphasis on the power of arts-based educational efforts to develop identity and empathy in American undergraduates. It argues the necessity of empathy in an increasingly connected yet divisive world and outlines ways educators can better accommodate for and accelerate its development. Asserting the importance of cohesive identity narratives in dialogical interaction, it draws upon the pedagogical power of art, which is defined as any type of creative narration, to help students develop and express their stories of self. This kind of preparation, it argues, equips students to forge connections within themselves and to others. To apply and test this argument, these topics were translated into a five-week identity-based art curriculum and taught to Emory University undergraduates. Through both theoretical claim and experimental application, this thesis outlines ways for educators to foster creativity, narrativity, vulnerability, and empathy within - and outside – the classroom.
   

• Awarded Highest Honors by the Emory University Institute for Liberal Arts

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