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March 4, 2013 - Creatively Changing a Domain

BIG QUESTION:
How do I go about the process of creating emotional ties across boundaries or difference with a view towards finding allies across lines of division to help the poor to take action together so as to have equity and inclusion in American society?

My own lived experience as a person who is handicapped (i.e. hearing impaired) gives me a deep personal interest in creating a better society as a result of the marginalization of those of us who are in any way different from the “norm.” I wish to do my research and writing from the perspective of advocacy and a participatory or emancipatory approach to dealing with the structures of society which refuse to use the means available to lift the load of poverty. “This philosophical worldview focuses on the needs of groups and individuals in our society that may be marginalized or disenfranchised” (Creswell 9). It is through this lens that I intend to shape the questions, collect and analyze data and provide a call to action for social change. Through collaboration with others I hope to create an explanation for how the current paradigm or system functions as an oppressor.  “Creativity generally refers to the act of changing some aspect of a domain – to a painting that reveals new ways of seeing, to an idea that explains how stars move and why” (Csikszentmihalyi 291).

One area of further study for me is to do academic research into the concept of “empathy.” According to Krznaric, there is an evolutionary shift in the science of human nature. “The old view that we are essentially self-interested creatures is being nudged firmly to one side by evidence that we are also homo empathicus, wired for empathy, social cooperation and mutual aid” (Krznaric). Additionally he cites Martin Seligman who claims that empathy and happiness can have a positive effect on the problem of chronic loneliness. I am also familiar with a construct called Nonviolent Communication (NVC), a modality for verbal communication striving for a way to engage in self-talk and conversation with others that is more likely to result in needs being met (Rosenberg). Engaging in research to measure the validity and reliability of these ideas offers an opportunity to reveal a new way of seeing how we as humans behave and explain why empathy and Nonviolent Communication offer the possibility of greater cooperation amongst people. The domains of collaboration and cooperation in life have been long-term interests of mine. I have lived in cooperative and shared housing situations most of my adult life and  for many years I was involved with groups of people who engaged in cooperative learning of the NVC construct mentioned above.

If research is a domain, then the major change I hope to offer is in the realm of collaboration. “Collaborative autoethnography (CAE) is a qualitative research method that is simultaneously collaborative, autobiographical and ethnographic.” I want to engage a group of three to four of my cohorts at Union to pool our stories, find the commonalities and differences and then wrestle with them to find meanings in relation to sociocultural contexts (Chang, Ngunjiri and Hernandez 17). It would be truly wonderful if this collaborative dissertation group were composed of people from different backgrounds who could shed light on the question I asked at the beginning of this paper - How do I go about the process of creating emotional ties across boundaries or difference with a view towards finding allies across lines of division to help the poor to take action together so as to have equity and inclusion in American society? At the ripe old age of 66 I am beginning a dissertation project that reflects the larger purpose for the rest of my life.


Works Cited
Chang, Heewon, Faith Wambura Ngunjiri, and Kathy-Ann C. Hernandez. Collaborative Autoethnography. Walnut Creek, CA: Left Coast Press, 2012. Print.
Creswell, John W. Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mix Methods Approaches. 3rd ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, 2009. Print.
Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly. Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention. New York, NY: HarperCollins, 1996. Print.
Krznaric, Roman. "Six Habits of Highly Empathic People".  Berkeley, CA, 2012.  Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley. <http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/six_habits_of_highly_empathic_people1>.
Rosenberg, Marshall B. Nonviolent Communication - a Language of Life. 2nd ed. Encinitas, CA: Puddle Dancer Press, 2005. Print.

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