Humanity lives in a volatile, complex, and ambiguous world plagued by objective misunderstandings of the subjective experiences or hardships endured by global individuals. Today’s youth exist in a society where the individuality of the human condition is often masked by the expectation that people abandon their authenticity to conform to the exclusive desires of a “mainstream” collective. The modern education system in the United States is, unfortunately, not untouched by the aforementioned expectation, especially with respect to trauma-related considerations. While academic growth is important in educational settings, there appear to be several critical, missing pieces: Have individual notions of trauma been considered? Has intentional thought been given to the perceived invisibility of emotional abuse or manipulation as its own domain of traumatic experiences? This thesis, and the accompanying creative project deliverable, aim to shed light on re-envisioned notions of trauma, emotional abuse, and the importance of utilizing inclusive and comprehensive trauma response strategies in K-12 classrooms.

The creation of this study was driven by my belief in the importance of transforming and reimagining human-nature relationships for sustainable futures and my interest in understanding the implementation of nature-based learning in schools. Through observations of children in an outdoor education setting, I sought to answer the following research questions: “How do children that have engaged in nature-based learning view themselves in relation to nature?” and “What can be observed about children’s personal understandings of nature and their personal relationships with nature in their writing and drawings?” This study was implemented with participants in third grade outdoor education classes at a local charter school in South Phoenix using multiple participatory research methods. My findings add to an existing body of knowledge and research focused on understanding children’s relationships with nature and the impacts of nature-based learning. In the conclusion of this paper, I pose additional questions about conceptualizing children’s relationships with nature and exploring their nature connectedness through research, share reflections on my personal relationship with nature, and discuss how my observations support benefits of nature-based learning as argued by existing scholarship.

When looking at the works of literature known in the popular cultural consensus as “fairy tales”, there is one author and body of work whose name and stories have not seemed to cross over from the world of academia to that of popular culture. Marie de France has been a staple of my undergraduate studies, with her lais coming up in multiple classes. Despite her writing being nearly a thousand years old, the stories that she tells- of love, hate, comedy and tragedy- have a timeless quality. However, there is very little in the way of adaptational material for the Lais of Marie de France, at least in the English speaking world. This is disappointing, as her works have the potential to speak to a modern audience- the story of Lanval, in particular, contains many story elements that are at once familiar yet unique to those familiar with similar works. In writing and illustrating a visual adaptation of this text, I hope to engage the imagination of modern readers while keeping true to the spirit of Marie de France’s original vision.