Outstanding Dissertation Award
Arts-Based Educational Research Special Interest Group
Outstanding Dissertation Award
APPLICATION DEADLINE: November 1, 2025 by 5:00pm Pacific Standard Time. First-time applicants, who not have previously applied in past years, must have successfully defended the dissertation within two years prior to the submission date, November 1, 2025.
The executive committee of the Arts and Inquiry in the Visual and Performing Arts in Education SIG invites submissions for the Arts & Inquiry Outstanding Dissertation Award. Established in 2018, this award is intended to recognize a doctoral dissertation that exemplifies, innovates, or enhances the application of the visual and performing arts for qualitative educational research. Awardees will receive a $700.00 cash award toward their travel to the conference (a requirement of the award is for the awardee to be in attendance at the annual AERA gathering), a plaque recognizing their achievements, and the opportunity to present/perform at the Arts and Inquiry in the Visual and Performing Arts in Education SIG business meeting at the AERA Annual Meeting in April of 2026.
Current neoliberal discourses in public education tend to privilege instrumental/rationalistic knowledge and marginalize naturalistic inquiry. This award is intended to legitimize and honor the naturalistic application of the visual and performing arts as methodologies for investigation, analysis, critique, representation, and critical engagement within the field of education. The award also honors two pioneers of performance and visual arts-based education research, Mary Beth Cancienne and Carl Bagley, securing their legacy as founding scholars of the SIG, while inviting new scholars with new ideas to enter into our SIG discourse.
Eligibility: Individuals who have successfully defended their dissertation and/or graduated in the year preceding the award year are eligible to apply. Only complete application packets will be accepted for committee review.
Submission Packets must include the following:
CONTACT:
If you have questions, contact Leia Cain, PhD, ABER SIG Awards Chair, at [email protected]
Outstanding Dissertation Award
APPLICATION DEADLINE: November 1, 2025 by 5:00pm Pacific Standard Time. First-time applicants, who not have previously applied in past years, must have successfully defended the dissertation within two years prior to the submission date, November 1, 2025.
The executive committee of the Arts and Inquiry in the Visual and Performing Arts in Education SIG invites submissions for the Arts & Inquiry Outstanding Dissertation Award. Established in 2018, this award is intended to recognize a doctoral dissertation that exemplifies, innovates, or enhances the application of the visual and performing arts for qualitative educational research. Awardees will receive a $700.00 cash award toward their travel to the conference (a requirement of the award is for the awardee to be in attendance at the annual AERA gathering), a plaque recognizing their achievements, and the opportunity to present/perform at the Arts and Inquiry in the Visual and Performing Arts in Education SIG business meeting at the AERA Annual Meeting in April of 2026.
Current neoliberal discourses in public education tend to privilege instrumental/rationalistic knowledge and marginalize naturalistic inquiry. This award is intended to legitimize and honor the naturalistic application of the visual and performing arts as methodologies for investigation, analysis, critique, representation, and critical engagement within the field of education. The award also honors two pioneers of performance and visual arts-based education research, Mary Beth Cancienne and Carl Bagley, securing their legacy as founding scholars of the SIG, while inviting new scholars with new ideas to enter into our SIG discourse.
Eligibility: Individuals who have successfully defended their dissertation and/or graduated in the year preceding the award year are eligible to apply. Only complete application packets will be accepted for committee review.
Submission Packets must include the following:
- A cover letter including the applicant’s name, contact information, the name of their university and program of study, the names of their dissertation committee members, the title of their dissertation, and their defense and graduation dates,
- A copy of their signed dissertation acceptance paperwork,
- A concise essay of 2,500 words that provides an outline of the purposes, theoretical framework, methodology, and findings of the work with particular emphasis on the innovative use of performance and/or visual art as a methodology. The essay should be blinded for review.
- A blinded copy of the applicant’s accepted dissertation.
CONTACT:
If you have questions, contact Leia Cain, PhD, ABER SIG Awards Chair, at [email protected]
Tom Barone Award
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