Term of Award

Spring 2024

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

Document Type and Release Option

Dissertation (open access)

Copyright Statement / License for Reuse

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Department

College of Education

Committee Chair

John Weaver

Committee Member 1

Marla Morris

Committee Member 2

Tricia Kress

Committee Member 3

Robert Lake

Committee Member 3 Email

boblake@georgiasouthern.eduMemoir, Life writing, Musician, Music, Female rock band, Influence and death of my mother.

Abstract

ABSTRACT

This is the story of my life in the form of a memoir. You might ask, why is my life a relevant subject for a dissertation? As Celeste Snowber, the scholar, author and performer recently said to me, “I think it would be wonderful to write a memoir.... You clearly have an extraordinary life, with art, soul and the depths of wisdom marinating all you do” (2023, personal communication). I was flattered by her comments and her confidence in me gave me the inspiration I needed to tell my story. There is also the meaning of ‘lived experience’ in the realm of curriculum studies. As Pinar wrote, “Autobiography is an architecture of self, a self we create and embody as we read, write, speak and listen” (1994, p. 220). In my writing I will conflate autobiography and \memoir as much of the literature uses the word ‘autobiography’ as opposed to the word ‘memoir’ (see Pinar, 2015; Miller, 2010; Morris, 2015). Though the two words are not actually defined the same, they both still follow the pathway set out for writings of the self, a narrative of lived experience actually called life writing. This type of writing “includes a wide range of genres that involve writing about the self and theorizing about self‐writing” (Dowd & Eckerly, 2010, p. 32). So based on Pinar’s and other theorists’ writings, I consider that my memoir might be an enlightening read to a curriculum theorist. Moreover, I think it is an enlightening read to anyone of my generation. This memoir is unusual because it is written in the form of an illustrated/graphic novel with musical interludes. So, read on my friends, and enjoy.

Research Data and Supplementary Material

No

Download

Files over 10MB may be slow to open. For best results, right-click and select "Save as..."

Share

COinS