Girls Rule Art!

Exploring Forcibly Displaced Girls’ Engagement in Arts-Based Programs

in Girlhood Studies
Author:
Ashley Cureton Assistant Professor, University of Michigan, USA curetona@umich.edu

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https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8392-2040
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.3167/ghs.2024.170105
Keywords:
adolescence; dance; identity; homesickness; resettlement; schools
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Abstract

Arts-based programs can provide space for forcibly displaced youth to process pre-migration and resettlement experiences creatively. While these programs can facilitate growth and healing, limited research addresses forcibly displaced girls’ perceived benefits of engaging in arts-based programs. Through in-depth interviews with 20 high school girls who resettled in a Midwest City in the United States, I explore this group's motivation to engage in arts-based activities like dance, drama, and theater. My findings suggest that participants engaged in arts-based programs to explore their artistic interests, connect with other girls with similar cultural identities, and manage feelings of homesickness and loss. I discuss how schools and community organizations can tailor arts-based programs to help forcibly displaced girls manage socio-emotional and educational needs.

Contributor Notes

Ashley E. Cureton (ORCID: 0000-0001-8392-2040) is an assistant professor in the School of Social Work and in the Marsal Family School of Education at the University of Michigan. She explores the educational and socio-emotional needs and outcomes of forcibly displaced youth. Her research builds on over a decade of research and practice experience with forcibly displaced populations in South Africa, Zambia, Lebanon, Jordan, India, and the United States. Email: curetona@umich.edu

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Girlhood Studies

An Interdisciplinary Journal

Cover Girlhood Studies
Article Category:
Research Article
Page Count:
19
Keywords:
adolescence; dance; identity; homesickness; resettlement; schools
Print Publication Date:
01 Mar 2024
Online Publication Date:
01 Mar 2024
Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2024

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