Why Art Matters: How Performance Art Interventions Contribute to the Field of Conflict Resolution

Doctoral Dissertation
Dena Hawes
Daniel Rothbart
Committee Chair
Marc Gopin
Committee Member
Ho Won Jeong
Committee Member
William Reeder
Committee Member
Why Art Matters: How Performance Art Interventions Contribute to the Field of Conflict Resolution
Publication Date:April 18, 2007
Pages:292
Download: Proquest
Abstract

There is insufficient information and empirical evidence about how performance art interventions
can support existing forms of conflict resolution practice. This is a U.S.-based study that explores
and explains how performance art interventions can complement traditional and transformative
interventions in the field of conflict resolution through the creation of an “alternative reality” among
audience members, and through the utilization of multiple narratives and different perceptions of
those narratives. Quantitative and qualitative research collected and analyzed for this study
indicates and suggests how performance art, as a dialogically based intervention, can influence an
individual’s attitude, perception, or position about issues that are relevant to the field of conflict
resolution. Suggestions are made about complementary interventions and the stage of conflict in
which this unique type of intervention could be most useful.

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