Date Approved
5-27-2025
Embargo Period
6-9-2027
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Ph.D. Creativity
Department
Art
College
Ric Edelman College of Communication & Creative Arts
Advisor
Jonathan Fineberg, Ph.D.
Committee Member 1
Audrey Ellis, Ph.D.
Committee Member 2
Philip Opsasnick
Committee Member 3
Henry Threadgill
Disciplines
Arts and Humanities | Music
Abstract
Abstract James Brandon Lewis Symphony of Cells, Creative Encounter & The path to Molecular Systematic Music 2024-2025 Jonathan Fineberg, PhD, Director of the PhD in Creativity, Dissertation Chair Doctor of Philosophy This dissertation explores the role of “creative encounter”, as a series of transformative micro and macro experiences, the catalyst for shaping and building “Artistic DNA”, singular experiences that have contributed to the idiosyncratic nature of the artist/musician. This dissertation provides the reader with an insider perspective into the life of a musician and what a note of music is metaphorical, not only as a matter of frequency but the embodiment of the lived experiences of those musicians playing. Using myself as a case study, I use personal narrative, autoethnography to explore the creative encounters within my own life around three primary spheres of influence: music, spirituality, and science. The research methodology employed in this dissertation is autoethnography. Autoethnography is a qualitative research method that tells the story of the researcher using their experience in the field as validating data. Autoethnography is an approach to doing and representing social research that uses personal (“Auto”) experience to create representation (“Graphy”) of cultural (“Ethno”) experiences, social expectations, and shared beliefs, values, and practices. The result of this dissertation is not to prove but to use autoethnography to evoke sentiment and understanding in the reader.
Recommended Citation
Lewis, James Brandon, "SYMPHONY OF CELLS CREATIVE ENCOUNTER & THE PATH TO MOLECULAR SYSTEMATIC MUSIC" (2025). Theses and Dissertations. 3362.
https://rdw.rowan.edu/etd/3362
