Re-presencing: Aesthetic Education of the Soul in the Spirit of James, Dewey, and Greene

Abstract

Abstract:In this article, I call for a return to Plato’s conception of “education of the soul” through a new pedagogical framework, Represencing, that engages the transformative capacities of aesthetic experience. Philosophically grounded in the work of William James, John Dewey, and Maxine Greene, Re-presencing is a ritualized practice of heightened consciousness and deep inquiry with an artwork (repeatedly over time) about the past, the present, and possible futures. In Re-presencing, we are present with an artwork (mindful awareness and attention to perception), present to experience (and the cognitive emotions therein), and present for inquiry (self-cultivation) and growth—forming and expanding the self with, in, and through aesthetic experience. Our longitudinal relationship with the work of art (through ritualized engagement) allows the object to become a historical marker of past experiences and a threshold of possibility as we become increasingly wide-awake to ourselves, the world around us, and the mystical and mysterious beyond.