ABSTRACT

     My dissertation study combines narrative storytelling, self-study, Black feminist methods, and arts-based educational research (ABER) to consider how three generations of my maternal lineage have experienced the phenomenon of Black womanhood throughout our lives, education, teaching careers, and art. Importantly, this study also pilots my extension of current arts-based research methods called "Empathetic Embodiment" (EE).
    This study represents the first use of the EE method in an official research capacity and considers the following primary research question: “How can Empathetic Embodiment make sense of the ways dance, education, and Blackness are braided through my maternal lineage?” My maternal grandmother, mother, and my own narratives are presented alongside detailed descriptions of both the theory and practice of EE. Ultimately, our stories demonstrate some of the ways in which dance, embodiment, and Black experiences of teaching and learning are entangled in Black women’s expression and development of themselves.