Dissertation as Contemporary Art

How Academic Research Becomes Artistic Practice
1. Auflage 2026
ISBN: 978-1-041-26392-0
Verlag: Taylor & Francis Ltd

Buch, Englisch, 180 Seiten, Format (B × H): 138 mm x 216 mm

Reihe: Studies in Curriculum Theory Series

This book offers a radically creative reimagining of the doctoral dissertation as a work of contemporary art. Part field guide, part conceptual art project, and part methodological roadmap, it explores what counts as knowledge, how unconventional work becomes recognizable as rigorous research, and how artists can work within academic institutions without sacrificing their own ways of knowing.

Inspired by William Pinar’s method of currere, the authors document how they navigated institutional expectations, committee politics, and the personal transformation required to bring an innovative dissertation to life. This book introduces practical tools for documenting artistic inquiry, making creative decisions visible, connecting artworks to research claims, and translating unconventional work into forms that academic audiences can recognize and evaluate. Advisor field notes provide a parallel perspective, showing how committees can support originality while maintaining rigor and accountability. It also addresses AI, authorship, and distributed creative labor as part of contemporary research practice. The result is a practical guide for graduate students and advisors seeking research forms that can survive review, remain ethically intact, and still feel like the work they set out to make.

An essential resource for graduate students, advisors, and researchers interested in arts-based research, practice-based inquiry, contemporary art, and curriculum theory.

Zielgruppe

Academic and Postgraduate

Autoren/Hrsg.

D’Adamo, Kimberley

Trainin, Guy

Weitere Mitwirkende

Green, Mitch

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Pädagogik Schulen, Schulleitung Universitäten, Hochschulen
• Sozialwissenschaften Pädagogik Lehrerausbildung, Unterricht & Didaktik Allgemeine Didaktik Kunst, Musik, Theater (Unterricht & Didaktik)
• Geisteswissenschaften Kunst Kunst, allgemein

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Foreword: by Jorge Lucero, Prologue: Lived Research, Introduction: The Dissertation as Contemporary Art Part I: Method and Structure Chapter 1: The Studio as Method Chapter 2: Currere as Engine Chapter 3: Lineage and Permission Part II: Advising, Institutions, and the Work Chapter 4: Adviser and Candidate Chapter 5: The Artworks as Research Sites Chapter 6: Artworks as Interpretive Instruments Chapter 7: Place as Pedagogy Chapter 8: Institutional Legibility and Academic Rigor Part III: Authorship, Survival, and Continuation Chapter 9: Authorship as Accounting (Working With AI) Chapter 10: Working the Institution: A Test Case in Transforming School from Within Epilogue: School Re-Form As Contemporary Art

Über Autor(innen)

Kimberley D’Adamo, EdD, is a contemporary artist, researcher, and teacher-educator whose work uses arts-based and studio research to examine how schools shape voice, belonging, and agency. She teaches emerging media and arts-based inquiry at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln.

Guy Trainin, PhD, is a professor at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln whose research focuses on literacy, learning, and the design of equitable educational environments. He has extensive experience advising doctoral students and helping committees evaluate innovative, unconventional, practice-based dissertations.