From “I Am Not a Creative Person” to “Maybe I Am a Little Artistic”: Experiential Learning, Collaborative Research, and Arts-Informed Pedagogy in the Neoliberal Academy

Book: Implementing Transformative Student-Centered Pedagogies in the Neoliberal Academy: Constraints and Opportunities by CSMFL Publications

Marcy Meyer1 , Kaitlyn Helmer2
1Ball State University, USA; 2Ball State University, USA.

10.46679/9789349926912ch10
This chapter is a part of: Implementing Transformative Student-Centered Pedagogies in the Neoliberal Academy: Constraints and Opportunities
ISBN (Ebook): 978-93-49926-91-2
ISBN (Hardcover Print): 978-93-49926-11-0
ISBN (Softcover Print): 978-93-49926-31-8

© CSMFL Publications & its authors.
Published: May 05, 2026

Meyer, M. & Helmer, K. (2026). From “I Am Not a Creative Person” to “Maybe I Am a Little Artistic”: Experiential Learning, Collaborative Research, and Arts-Informed Pedagogy in the Neoliberal Academy. In F. Fovet, Implementing Transformative Student-Centered Pedagogies in the Neoliberal Academy: Constraints and Opportunities (pp 225-247). CSMFL Publications. https://dx.doi.org/10.46679/9789349926912ch10

Abstract

This collaborative ethnographic study describes what it was like to be members of the class, Creative Approaches to Studying Organizational Culture. We interlace participants’ voices with our reflections to describe our experiences and to analyze the ways in which the course met its espoused goals, as well as the tensions that class members experienced as we pursued those goals within a neoliberal university. Specifically, we identify successes and challenges related to studying ethnography through experiential learning, engaging in collaborative research, and practicing arts-based research (ABR). We explore the implications of our findings for teaching experiential collaborative ABR classes in the neoliberal academy.

Keywords: Arts-based Research Pedagogy, Collaborative Ethnography, Experiential Learning, Neoliberal University

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