how we wear water:
arts-based PhD project
how we wear water: creative learning for sustainability
multi-media PhD project
arts-based research methodology
Arizona State University (March 2020)
the showcase was held as a public culmination to my PhD project focused on creative learning for sustainability.
interactive exhibits and performances examined lessons humans can learn from water’s adaptability. my dissertation work was synthesized to explore how water can inform and inspire individual and collective learning for sustainability.
the showcase was originally designed to be held indoors, in a black box space. however, two days before the event, we were required to pivot as it was the very beginning of the covid pandemic.
rather than entirely cancelling the event, my father had the brilliant idea to adapt and instead hold outdoors. we held the public showcase on March 17th 2020 at Daley Park in Tempe, AZ.
in the final 3 months of my project, i was blessed to be supported by an incredible, multi-generational team of women for the public showcase. from left to right: Emily Curtis, Nona Siegel, myself, Andie Wilkerson, Jess Bristow
participants engage in a collaborative collage to co-create the shared vision for the future of education
myself and collaborator Emily Curtis prepare the audience for the adapted version of the "#change" dance, where we embodied the four phases of water
myself and my two brilliant parents, Behnam Movahed and Dr. Zohreh Movahed, who also happen to be Water Treatment Engineers
closing the evening after the "a walk with her wisdom" performance
opening the public event with a brief ritual and explanation of the project
Andie Wilkerson was our "water sommelier" and offered participants a guided experience tasting various water sources
the poster advertising the public showcase designed by the talented Farzaneh Hedayati
with Nona Siegel's guidance, participants created small stuffed keepsakes using the leftover wool cuttings from my hand-woven rug
in this multi-media dissertation, water is used metaphorically to equate the process of learning with embracing change. paradigm shifts needed for sustainability require transformative learning where one is open to being shaped by new knowledge and experience. properties of water, such as molecular bonding and phase changes, uncover lessons for humans’ adaptability. given that our bodies are comprised mostly of water – what implications exist for our capacity to similarly undergo continuous change?
this four-chapter project addresses the power of creative learning for sustainability at the personal, familial, formal classroom, informal online learning community, and public scales. arts-based methods harness aesthetic power, welcome subjective complexity, and allow multiple meanings to be interpreted from research results. this multi-media project stretches the conventional structure of sustainability dissertations. the bridge between the arts and sciences is strengthened as this project shows synergies between these two ways of knowing. we can learn from the wisdom of water – to both change and be changed by our circumstances.