Date of Graduation

8-2024

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts in Art Education (MA)

Degree Level

Graduate

Department

Art

Advisor/Mentor

Yoon-Ramirez, Injeong

Committee Member

Valencia, Paulina C.

Second Committee Member

Brown, Kathy J.

Third Committee Member

Ramirez, Ben

Keywords

Arts-based reflection; Critical self reflection; Dialectical materialism; Marxism; Whiteness

Abstract

In this thesis, I reflect on my identity and experience as a white male and an artisteducator through a lens of critical whiteness and dialectical materialism. I utilize creative writing, and storytelling to speak more metaphorically about my own experiences and feelings in relation to whiteness to understand how I now operate as an artist-educator. Through dialectical materialism, I break down the social change described within the stories of growing up in the United States and intergenerational relationships with other white male figures, displaying more intricate ways I understand how similarities and differences change over time within the white identity of the United States. By reflecting on an array of my experiences as a white individual, my goal is to explore the ways I have tried to understand the complexity of white supremacy within the United States, to understand myself and my students better as they attempt to come into their own understandings of their individual positionality within a shared country. The thesis consists of two parts, narrative writing of personal stories during specific periods of my life. Through the stories, I use dialectical materialism to explore how I have or have not changed over time as I confronted key aspects of whiteness. Letter writing wraps up each chapter and readdresses my feelings about whiteness I reflect on. It concludes with my letter to white artists and educators as an invitation to collective reflection. Keywords: Whiteness, Critical Reflection, Dialectical Materialism, Collective Change

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