Acknowledgments
I sincerely thank Wendy Anderson, Ted Fleming, Viv Golding, Thanasis Karalis, Aliki Nicolaides and Kathleen Taylor for their highly important and critical comments on the manuscript. Moreover, I wish to extend my gratitude to Leif Emil Hansen (Roskilde University), Helene Illeris (University of Agler), Kirsten Kamprr (VUCFYN), Vaggelis Kalambakas, Georgia Mega, Antigoni Vlavianou (Hellenic Open University), and Peter Warner (ABF) for our creative cooperation in the Grundving European Programme “ARTiT: Development of innovative methods of training the trainers”. It has been in the framework of that particular programme that the pilot implementation and refinement of the educational method Transformative Learning through Aesthetic Experience presented in this book have taken place.
A wide range of insights informing the formulation of this method have emerged through the practical experience of and subsequent relevant dialogue with professors, tutors and students of the University of Athens, Greece; the University of Athens, Georgia; the Teachers College, Columbia University; the Hellenic Open University; the University of Manchester and the University of Patras, as well as the staff and adult educators of the Hellenic Adult Education Association, the Ländliche Erwachsenenbildung Thüringen, and Larissa-Learning City.
I am also indebted to the researchers and theorists with whom I have had insightful and illuminating discussions over the years regarding learning for change and aesthetic experience. My deepest appreciation goes in particular to Michel Alhadeff-Jones, Petra Buergelt, Saskia Eschenbacher, Richard Fay, Fergal Finnegan, Chad Hoggan, Elizabeth Kasl, Randee Lipson Lawrence, Kaisu Mälkki, Victoria Marsick, Peter Mayo, Francesco Kappa, Elizabeth Kasl, Anna Laros, Claudio Melacarne, Ira Shor, Maura Striano, Ed Taylor, Jane Thompson, Karen Watkins, Marguerite Welch and Linden West, as well as to my Greek colleagues Apostolos Barlos, Maria Christou, Dimitris Deliyiannis, Vaso Gogou, Mary Kagiavi, Sofia Kalogridi, Katerina Kedraka, George Koulaouzides, Xenia Koutendaki, Piera Leftheriotou, Paris Lintzeris, Kostas Magos, Chryssa Manthou, Dimitris Patronas, Manos Pavlakis, Natassa Raikou, Maria Terlixidou, Anna Tsiboukli, Danae Vaikousi, Vivi Vassala and Dimitris Vergidis.
My relationship with Knud Illeris, Peter Jarvis and Jack Mezirow has influenced considerably the way I perceive emancipatory learning.
Effie Kostara’s contribution as a copyeditor and critical interlocutor has been more than significant. Maria Papadopoulou has kindly and effectively assisted in the literature review. Special thanks are due to Stefania Kordia, Julia Spinthouraki and Stelios Tsoukalas for their creative contribution to the translation of the manuscript into English. Especially Stefania ensured consistency throughout the chapters.
Peter Mayo has provided motivation for the production of the book, which was decisively facilitated by Brill | Sense.
A special thank you to Yannis Kokkos for the original artwork he offered.
The empathetic support and the insightful comments of my wife, Christina, have been an invaluable source of encouragement throughout the whole endeavor.