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The Story of Eminence
Collaborative Relationships on the Path to Greatness
by Dana Lockhart, Ph.D.
Background
The Story of Eminence - Collaborative Relationships on the Path to Greatness was completed specifically for individuals in the field of gifted education which allowed for the assumption that my reader had some background knowledge of both conceptions utilized, and participants included. The dissertation began with a literature review of the study of eminence and a demonstration of the dearth of literature on collaboration within the field of eminence. After this, I introduced the conceptual framework I created for my analysis, which included a theoretical framework for eminence and intimacy. These two theoretical frameworks guided my participant selection and exploration of participants’ experiences. Following the review of my frameworks was my methods section. I utilized narrative inquiry, namely the oral history tradition as it aligned with the cognitive perspectives in my frameworks. The stories I generated from the episodic interviews I completed of participants was then revealed with the study closed by my analysis of these stories. This analysis is what led me to make conclusions as to the ways in which collaborative relationships foster eminence.
Background
Data collection and analysis took place between August 2024 and November 2024, with my dissertation defense taking place mid-December. The final product was later uploaded to ProQuest on April 5, 2025, with the multimedia component created between May and August of 2025.
The Multimedia Component
Each video in this collection represents an aspect of my dissertation, which explored the collaborative relationships of eminent scholars in the field of gifted education. Through this medium, not only is the research visible, but the researcher becomes an animated figure which enables for a more personalized understanding of the study. I created this component utilizing Instagram and promoted it heavily on Facebook. I speak more about this process in the Researchers Conclusion; however, it is important to note that over 21 million individuals engaged with my videos as they were being generated. This is to say, the videos are a product of a performance, which adds a dimension to the conceptualization of multimedia used in this project. Audio is a critical component in this portion of my study, so to fully experience this product one must ensure the volume is on.
Submission
I submitted part of my study to the AERA conference with the focus being on the stories generated from the narrative methodology as opposed to the culminating findings of the study itself. This means that in my literature review I forwent a review of the conceptions of eminence and instead focused on the absence of collaboration within our current understandings of achievement. I then emphasized the narrative methodology used and finished with the stories generated from my interviews, omitting the conclusions.
A rationale for my submission was the word limits placed on researchers in conference proposals. Paring down a narrative study to 2,000 words is extremely difficult. This is especially true for my study as the stories uncovered in my dissertation were written in layers - an arts-based method for disseminating findings I developed to create a visual aesthetic necessary for understanding my findings. Furthermore, as my study was completed specifically for individuals in the field of gifted education, I felt able to act on the assumption that my reviewers had background knowledge of my participants’ careers and could thus interpret the videos in an informative way.
Closing
The topic of eminence is not a popular one; however, I believe it is important as in my field, eminence has often been described as being well-known within one’s field. This conception fails to consider a broader audience of individuals and in turn, the impact of one’s work. If you choose to read my dissertation then you will see I disagree to an extent as I argue that to become eminent, one must challenge, or break free from tradition, ultimately making a transformative impact on one’s field.
Thank you for your time and I hope you enjoy my multidimensional dissertation, The Story of Eminence – Collaborative Relationships on the Path to Greatness.
Recommended video citation
Lockhart, D. (2025). Background [Includes Reel that was originally posted on Instagram by Dana Lockhart using handle @inquiryassemblage] [Found in The Performance page which is indexed under #storyofeminence]. L’Assemblee pour L’Art et la Recherche.
Background
Data collection and analysis took place between August 2024 and November 2024, with my dissertation defense taking place mid-December. The final product was later uploaded to ProQuest on April 5, 2025, with the multimedia component created between May and August of 2025.
The Multimedia Component
Each video in this collection represents an aspect of my dissertation, which explored the collaborative relationships of eminent scholars in the field of gifted education. Through this medium, not only is the research visible, but the researcher becomes an animated figure which enables for a more personalized understanding of the study. I created this component utilizing Instagram and promoted it heavily on Facebook. I speak more about this process in the Researchers Conclusion; however, it is important to note that over 21 million individuals engaged with my videos as they were being generated. This is to say, the videos are a product of a performance, which adds a dimension to the conceptualization of multimedia used in this project. Audio is a critical component in this portion of my study, so to fully experience this product one must ensure the volume is on.
Submission
I submitted part of my study to the AERA conference with the focus being on the stories generated from the narrative methodology as opposed to the culminating findings of the study itself. This means that in my literature review I forwent a review of the conceptions of eminence and instead focused on the absence of collaboration within our current understandings of achievement. I then emphasized the narrative methodology used and finished with the stories generated from my interviews, omitting the conclusions.
A rationale for my submission was the word limits placed on researchers in conference proposals. Paring down a narrative study to 2,000 words is extremely difficult. This is especially true for my study as the stories uncovered in my dissertation were written in layers - an arts-based method for disseminating findings I developed to create a visual aesthetic necessary for understanding my findings. Furthermore, as my study was completed specifically for individuals in the field of gifted education, I felt able to act on the assumption that my reviewers had background knowledge of my participants’ careers and could thus interpret the videos in an informative way.
Closing
The topic of eminence is not a popular one; however, I believe it is important as in my field, eminence has often been described as being well-known within one’s field. This conception fails to consider a broader audience of individuals and in turn, the impact of one’s work. If you choose to read my dissertation then you will see I disagree to an extent as I argue that to become eminent, one must challenge, or break free from tradition, ultimately making a transformative impact on one’s field.
Thank you for your time and I hope you enjoy my multidimensional dissertation, The Story of Eminence – Collaborative Relationships on the Path to Greatness.
Recommended video citation
Lockhart, D. (2025). Background [Includes Reel that was originally posted on Instagram by Dana Lockhart using handle @inquiryassemblage] [Found in The Performance page which is indexed under #storyofeminence]. L’Assemblee pour L’Art et la Recherche.
Chapter 1
Introduction
Eminence “is renown, or fame, where a person is known by others in the domain and also by the world at large for their talent and accomplishment” (Piirto, 2019, p. 117). They are highly recognized in their field (Cattell, 1848) and “have made a name for themselves” (Simonton, 2016, p. 647). Although eminent individuals have some natural abilities (Albert, 1992; Simonton, 2005, 2016), their achievement is “a hard-earned designation given by peers for contributing to the betterment of practice, human well-being, or the promulgation of new ideas within a field” (Subotnik et al., 2021, p. 1). Put together, the eminent are well-known, morally grounded, and it is their motivation (Cox, 1926) and hard work that leads them to eminence (Galton, 1874).
From Lockhart, 2025, pp. 2-3.
Music
Hot Chip. (2015). I need you now,” Why make sense? Domino.
Recommended video citation
Lockhart, D. (2025). Chapter 1 Introduction [Includes Reel that was originally posted on Instagram by Dana Lockhart using handle @inquiryassemblage] [Found in The Performance page which is indexed under #storyofeminence]. L’Assemblee pour L’Art et la Recherche.
From Lockhart, 2025, pp. 2-3.
Music
Hot Chip. (2015). I need you now,” Why make sense? Domino.
Recommended video citation
Lockhart, D. (2025). Chapter 1 Introduction [Includes Reel that was originally posted on Instagram by Dana Lockhart using handle @inquiryassemblage] [Found in The Performance page which is indexed under #storyofeminence]. L’Assemblee pour L’Art et la Recherche.
Problem Statement
Researchers (e.g., Albert, 1969; Cattell, 1848; Cox, 1926; Dennis, 1954; Galton, 1869; Goertzel & Goertzel, 1962; Kronborg, 2008; Martindale, 1995; Murray, 2003; Piirto, 2019; S. M. Reis, 1995, 2006; Simonton, 1999; Terman, 1922) have explored the phenomenon of eminence for over a hundred years. Nonetheless, there is still little understanding of how it can be fostered, considering that gifted-identified students rarely grow up to be eminent adults. (Dai, 2019; Subotnik et al., 2011, 2012; Subotnik & Rickoff, 2010; VanTassel-Baska, 1989). This is a problem. Children are facing increasingly complex and global challenges (e.g., violence against women, climate injustice, structural racism, LGBTQ+ rights). Scholars (Ambrose, 2016; Ambrose & Sternberg, 2012; Simonton, 2005) have highlighted this, further noting that problems cannot be located within a single domain of study, nor resolved by one single solution. If the field of gifted education wishes to meet the changing needs of society then eminence must be fostered, with students becoming adults who contribute “to one’s field in a transcendent way that makes societal life better and more beautiful” (Subotnik et al., 2012, p. 7).
History and current observations show that it is through relationships that talent is actualized and eminence achieved. Consider J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis. Both are eminent in their field of children’s literature, and their respective works—The Hobbit and Chronicles of Narnia—are enduring classics. These eminent narrators are often considered independent creators, however, in their adult lives they were close friends. They met regularly and both their ideas and their personal lives were interconnected. Failing to explore this part of their development has resulted in an incomplete understanding of their accomplishments and careers. Farrell (2001) and others (Glyer & Owen, 2015; Kilby, 2016) demonstrated this in his case studies of Tolkien and Lewis, finding that their friendship was critical to the development of their ideas and arguably, their ultimate success (Farrell, 2001).
Collaborative relationships such as these have been observed across the domains (e.g., psychology, sociology, anthropology, art) and demonstrated to be similarly influential in the careers of seminal creators. Eminent literary figures Henry James and Joseph Conrad shared a passion for the form and method of writing. They supported each other and together, introduced a new way of storytelling (Hampson, 2012; Just, 2008). Psychologists Sigmund Freud and Wilhelm Fleiss are connected in the literature (e.g., Ackerman, 2000; Farrell, 2001; McGillion, 1998), as can the theories that they developed along the span of their relationship. Similarly, Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque pushed forward a new art movement. They combined their strengths and used their competitiveness to push each other’s abilities forward (Olive-Tomas & Harmeling, 2020).
In the research on eminence, these relationships have been left in the background. The focus has instead been on mentors, teachers, and parents (e.g., Bloom, 1985; Lee et al., 2022; Nicholas et al., 2024; Renzulli, 1983). These are distinct from relationships with peers. Parents are important for meeting a child’s basic needs, and teachers are relied upon to support early development. There is an imbalance in power with one side holding more than the other. The dependency that develops from these dynamics can make it difficult for a scholar to diverge, fearing that both relationships and careers could be ruined. As Farrell (2001) noted, "For professionals in a disciplined network, cultural capital is the expertise acquired through education or exposure to those with knowledge and skills in that discipline” (p. 274). The relationships with peers can provide new insight, however they are in a unique state of flux. Finding insight into the interconnectedness between eminence and collaborative relationships thus requires new lines of thinking and approaches to research.
From Lockhart, 2025, pp. 3-5.
Music
Harry Styles. (2017). “Sign of the times,” Harry Styles. Columbia Records; Erskine Records.
Recommended video citation
Lockhart, D. (2025). The Problem [Includes Reel that was originally posted on Instagram by Dana Lockhart using handle @inquiryassemblage] [Found in The Performance page which is indexed under #storyofeminence]. L’Assemblee pour L’Art et la Recherche.
History and current observations show that it is through relationships that talent is actualized and eminence achieved. Consider J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis. Both are eminent in their field of children’s literature, and their respective works—The Hobbit and Chronicles of Narnia—are enduring classics. These eminent narrators are often considered independent creators, however, in their adult lives they were close friends. They met regularly and both their ideas and their personal lives were interconnected. Failing to explore this part of their development has resulted in an incomplete understanding of their accomplishments and careers. Farrell (2001) and others (Glyer & Owen, 2015; Kilby, 2016) demonstrated this in his case studies of Tolkien and Lewis, finding that their friendship was critical to the development of their ideas and arguably, their ultimate success (Farrell, 2001).
Collaborative relationships such as these have been observed across the domains (e.g., psychology, sociology, anthropology, art) and demonstrated to be similarly influential in the careers of seminal creators. Eminent literary figures Henry James and Joseph Conrad shared a passion for the form and method of writing. They supported each other and together, introduced a new way of storytelling (Hampson, 2012; Just, 2008). Psychologists Sigmund Freud and Wilhelm Fleiss are connected in the literature (e.g., Ackerman, 2000; Farrell, 2001; McGillion, 1998), as can the theories that they developed along the span of their relationship. Similarly, Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque pushed forward a new art movement. They combined their strengths and used their competitiveness to push each other’s abilities forward (Olive-Tomas & Harmeling, 2020).
In the research on eminence, these relationships have been left in the background. The focus has instead been on mentors, teachers, and parents (e.g., Bloom, 1985; Lee et al., 2022; Nicholas et al., 2024; Renzulli, 1983). These are distinct from relationships with peers. Parents are important for meeting a child’s basic needs, and teachers are relied upon to support early development. There is an imbalance in power with one side holding more than the other. The dependency that develops from these dynamics can make it difficult for a scholar to diverge, fearing that both relationships and careers could be ruined. As Farrell (2001) noted, "For professionals in a disciplined network, cultural capital is the expertise acquired through education or exposure to those with knowledge and skills in that discipline” (p. 274). The relationships with peers can provide new insight, however they are in a unique state of flux. Finding insight into the interconnectedness between eminence and collaborative relationships thus requires new lines of thinking and approaches to research.
From Lockhart, 2025, pp. 3-5.
Music
Harry Styles. (2017). “Sign of the times,” Harry Styles. Columbia Records; Erskine Records.
Recommended video citation
Lockhart, D. (2025). The Problem [Includes Reel that was originally posted on Instagram by Dana Lockhart using handle @inquiryassemblage] [Found in The Performance page which is indexed under #storyofeminence]. L’Assemblee pour L’Art et la Recherche.
Chapter 2
Theoretical Framework for Intimacy
I used a theoretical framework for intimacy to capture the experiences of eminent scholars. Specifically, this framework includes trust, self-disclosure, and closeness. These are qualities of relationships that bring a “specific sort of knowing, loving, and caring for a person” (Jamieson, 1989, p. 71). Intimacy is defined here as "a quality of a relationship in which the individuals must have reciprocal feelings of trust and emotional closeness toward each other and can openly communicate thoughts and feelings to each other" (Timmerman, 1991, p. 23). These are dynamic and interconnected facets of intimacy that have emerged in the literature on collaborations between seminal figures. Trust is the foundation of intimacy. It includes aspects of safety, reliance, risk, and performance. Self-disclosure brings about the sense of deep knowing that manages intimacy. It is a driver for emotions and varies in depth and intensity. Closeness, the final construct, speaks to the interdependency in thought and behavior that can develop between partners. There is a shared vision and commitment to continued development in their careers.
From Lockhart, 2025, 13.
Music
Jai Paul. (2019). “All night,” Leak 04-13 (Bait ones). XL Recordings.
Recommended video citation
Lockhart, D. (2025). Chapter 2 Theoretical Framework for Intimacy [Includes Reel that was originally posted on Instagram by Dana Lockhart using handle @inquiryassemblage] [Found in The Performance page which is indexed under #storyofeminence]. L’Assemblee pour L’Art et la Recherche.
From Lockhart, 2025, 13.
Music
Jai Paul. (2019). “All night,” Leak 04-13 (Bait ones). XL Recordings.
Recommended video citation
Lockhart, D. (2025). Chapter 2 Theoretical Framework for Intimacy [Includes Reel that was originally posted on Instagram by Dana Lockhart using handle @inquiryassemblage] [Found in The Performance page which is indexed under #storyofeminence]. L’Assemblee pour L’Art et la Recherche.
Trust
Trust is a foundation for intimacy (Aron & Fraley, 1999; Seemann, 2009; Timmerman, 1991). I feel safe because I trust you, and you share ideas because you trust me. We keep each other’s secrets and through these shared experiences, strengthen the trust in our relationship (Rempel et al., 1985; Rotter, 1967). However, trust is not guaranteed. We must decide to trust and in turn, can take it away. These negotiations are on-going (Korsgaard et al., 2015), indicative of the risk we take in our relationships. When we trust we have something to lose. If I share your ideas, they could be taken, and if you break your promise, I could miss a deadline. Johns (1996) captured this in his conceptualization of trust, which he described as the "willingness to place oneself in a relationship that establishes or increases vulnerability with reliance upon someone or something to perform as expected" (p. 81). Regardless, we trust and in time, develop a dependency that fosters our intimacy. The role of trust in intimate collaborations was highlighted by Rouse (2020), who theorized that “intimate interactions can operate alongside perceptions of safety and trust to support the development of creative ideas” (p. 182). Similarly, Farrell (2001) found that intimacy was emergent in his case study of seminal collaborators, with trust being a critical component that brings us closer together.
Successful collaborations (Johns, 1996; John-Steiner, 2000) are often trusting relationships. For example, Gardner (1993b) the emphasized “the interpretive role of a trusted other person at times of creative breakthroughs” (as cited in John-Steiner, 2000, p. 147) Similarly, Parker and Hackett (2012) highlighted that collaborations can meet our emotional needs and enable partners to, “share their most half-baked ideas, trusting that others will not destructively attack or plagiarize them” (as cited in Farrell, 2001, p. 285). They were able to challenge one another more freely and engage in a discourse of disruption. This dynamic can foster Big-C creativity by supporting incubation (Wallas, 1926). That is, we are able to formulate our ideas to one another, then set them aside and return later with new perspectives. This can lead to what Harvey (2014) referred to as creative synthesis. Here, collaborators "consider not only the original question but also whether there is a better question to be asked" (p. 492). In turn, we are able to bring about creative solutions (Glaveanu et al., 2021; John-Steiner, 1997) and moreover, broaden our thinking in future explorations such that we are able to consider an increasingly wider range of solutions (Fredrickson, 2004) as we move forward in their careers.
Trust can be dangerous for our careers success can hinge on the trustworthiness of our collaborator. This increases the risk in the relationship; nevertheless, the trust we develop can bring us closer to supports our well-being (Diener, 1984). We become more committed and in turn, the intimacy between us is further strengthened (H. T. Reis, 2017; H. T. Reis et al., 2004).
The critical problem we face is not how to keep secrets from each other, but how to facilitate this readiness to communicate. The overriding question is how to maintain an atmosphere of trust and confidence which will enable us to talk about personal affairs as freely as we talk about automobiles; to share experience as we share the weather. (Bennett, 1967, as cited in Cozby, 1973, p. 88)
Trusting partners can meet our emotional needs in times of struggle and build our confidence by believing in our abilities. We believe they will be there for us, and we believe them when receiving feedback (Rempel et al., 1985; Rotter, 1967). However, to foster communication conducive to trust, we must increase our capacity for empathy and our ability to give and take constructive criticism (John-Steiner, 2000; Timmerman, 1991). This engagement enables deeper conversations... (Fitness, 1996) (as cited in Lockhart, 2025, pp. 32-34) that foster the trust I have for you, and you for me.
Music
Beirut. (2006). “Postcards from Italy,” Gulag Orkestar. Ba Da Bing.
Recommended video citation
Lockhart, D. (2025). Trust [Includes Reel that was originally posted on Instagram by Dana Lockhart using handle @inquiryassemblage] [Found in The Performance page which is indexed under #storyofeminence]. L’Assemblee pour L’Art et la Recherche.
Successful collaborations (Johns, 1996; John-Steiner, 2000) are often trusting relationships. For example, Gardner (1993b) the emphasized “the interpretive role of a trusted other person at times of creative breakthroughs” (as cited in John-Steiner, 2000, p. 147) Similarly, Parker and Hackett (2012) highlighted that collaborations can meet our emotional needs and enable partners to, “share their most half-baked ideas, trusting that others will not destructively attack or plagiarize them” (as cited in Farrell, 2001, p. 285). They were able to challenge one another more freely and engage in a discourse of disruption. This dynamic can foster Big-C creativity by supporting incubation (Wallas, 1926). That is, we are able to formulate our ideas to one another, then set them aside and return later with new perspectives. This can lead to what Harvey (2014) referred to as creative synthesis. Here, collaborators "consider not only the original question but also whether there is a better question to be asked" (p. 492). In turn, we are able to bring about creative solutions (Glaveanu et al., 2021; John-Steiner, 1997) and moreover, broaden our thinking in future explorations such that we are able to consider an increasingly wider range of solutions (Fredrickson, 2004) as we move forward in their careers.
Trust can be dangerous for our careers success can hinge on the trustworthiness of our collaborator. This increases the risk in the relationship; nevertheless, the trust we develop can bring us closer to supports our well-being (Diener, 1984). We become more committed and in turn, the intimacy between us is further strengthened (H. T. Reis, 2017; H. T. Reis et al., 2004).
The critical problem we face is not how to keep secrets from each other, but how to facilitate this readiness to communicate. The overriding question is how to maintain an atmosphere of trust and confidence which will enable us to talk about personal affairs as freely as we talk about automobiles; to share experience as we share the weather. (Bennett, 1967, as cited in Cozby, 1973, p. 88)
Trusting partners can meet our emotional needs in times of struggle and build our confidence by believing in our abilities. We believe they will be there for us, and we believe them when receiving feedback (Rempel et al., 1985; Rotter, 1967). However, to foster communication conducive to trust, we must increase our capacity for empathy and our ability to give and take constructive criticism (John-Steiner, 2000; Timmerman, 1991). This engagement enables deeper conversations... (Fitness, 1996) (as cited in Lockhart, 2025, pp. 32-34) that foster the trust I have for you, and you for me.
Music
Beirut. (2006). “Postcards from Italy,” Gulag Orkestar. Ba Da Bing.
Recommended video citation
Lockhart, D. (2025). Trust [Includes Reel that was originally posted on Instagram by Dana Lockhart using handle @inquiryassemblage] [Found in The Performance page which is indexed under #storyofeminence]. L’Assemblee pour L’Art et la Recherche.
Self-Disclosure
Self-disclosure is the sharing of personal information (Timmerman, 1991). It is an essential component of relationships (Anderson, 2011; Chelune et al., 1980) and serves as an equilibrium for intimacy (Laurenceau et al., 1998; Timmerman, 1991). When individuals share details about themselves, vulnerabilities are revealed. A sense of being known develops (H. T. Reis & Shaver, 1988), providing the emotional underpinnings that support idea-sharing (M. S. Clark & Grote, 2003). Intimacy necessitates reciprocity (Cozby, 1973; Jourard, 1971). As one individual shares, so does the other; and as the depth of disclosures from one increases, so may the others. This brings about a sense of deep knowing that continues to foster the intimacy (M. S. Clark & Grote, 2003). Rouse (2020) highlighted the influence of self-disclosure in the collaborative efforts of academia. As scholars share ideas and grow close, they are able to communicate and create more effectively. Similarly, Farrell (2001) noted that intimacy builds from the escalating reciprocity of self-disclosures between collaborators. However, it cannot be assumed that disclosures will develop trust (Kelley et al., 1983), nor that the length of relationships is indicative of the quality or quantity of disclosures (Bloch, 2002; Cozby, 1973). Thus, self-disclosure relates more to the depth of knowing and the strength of intimacy (Cozby, 1973; Fitness, 1996; Jourard, 1971), rather than the longevity of commitment.
Self-disclosure can hinge on trust (Fitness, 1996), underscoring the risks taken in building intimacy (Chelune et al., 1980; Forgas, 2011). The information disclosed may relate to careers or family. If it is shared and trust is broken, serious implications may arise (John-Steiner, 2000; Rouse, 2020). Nevertheless, sharing is an observable dynamic and has included skills, resources, ideas, and emotions (Farrell, 2001). The dynamic nature of self-disclosures highlights the importance of complementary abilities. Intimacy thrives on reciprocity; therefore, if only one benefits from sharing the intimacy fails to deepen.
The sharing of ideas and personal information can be mutually beneficial for collaborators (Chelune et al., 1980) and foster a new dynamic in one’s work. As the trust builds from continued disclosures (Khalifian & Barry, 2020; Taylor & Altman, 1975) a deeper understanding of one another is fostered. This strengthens the commitment to fostering intimacy (M. S. Clark & Grote, 2003). This was observable in the collaborative relationship between eminent scientists Marie and Pierre Curie. Although Marie possessed a deep understanding of abstract mathematics, Pierre worked on developing instruments for measurement (John-Steiner, 2000). Their relationship spanned their careers, and the complementary nature of their talents evident in their work. However, heir productivity and success is arguably more related to their deep understanding of one another. This included work habits, values, and emotional boundaries, all of which can support individual and collaborative success.
Although the sense of knowing developed within relationships can support achievements, the willingness to share can differ based on current perceptions of trust and motivations for establishing the relationships (Cozby, 1973; Fitness, 1996; Jourard, 1971) as well as personality (Reno & Kenny, 1992), and changes in mood (Forgas, 2011). Additionally, the power dynamics of relationships can influence inhibitions. Consider the mentor/mentee relationships supported in the literature (e.g., Bloom, 1985; John-Steiner, 2000; Kronborg, 2010). Here, one individual often holds the power—status and resources—while the other remains in development. This has led some (Farrell, 2001; Nijstad, 2015; Taylor & Altman, 1975) to raise concerns about the ability to be creative in these relationships. Those without power may hesitate to present new ideas due to fears of harsh judgment or a sense of indebtedness to the mentor's paradigm. Nonetheless, relationships evolve. As skills develop and social contexts change, so does the balance of power, leading to matched abilities and the emergence of complementary resources.
From Lockhart, 2025, pp. 34-36.
Music
Beirut. (2006). “Postcards from Italy,” Gulag Orkestar. Ba Da Bing.
Recommended video citation
Lockhart, D. (2025). Self-Disclosure [Includes Reel that was originally posted on Instagram by Dana Lockhart using handle @inquiryassemblage] [Found in The Performance page which is indexed under #storyofeminence]. L’Assemblee pour L’Art et la Recherche.
Self-disclosure can hinge on trust (Fitness, 1996), underscoring the risks taken in building intimacy (Chelune et al., 1980; Forgas, 2011). The information disclosed may relate to careers or family. If it is shared and trust is broken, serious implications may arise (John-Steiner, 2000; Rouse, 2020). Nevertheless, sharing is an observable dynamic and has included skills, resources, ideas, and emotions (Farrell, 2001). The dynamic nature of self-disclosures highlights the importance of complementary abilities. Intimacy thrives on reciprocity; therefore, if only one benefits from sharing the intimacy fails to deepen.
The sharing of ideas and personal information can be mutually beneficial for collaborators (Chelune et al., 1980) and foster a new dynamic in one’s work. As the trust builds from continued disclosures (Khalifian & Barry, 2020; Taylor & Altman, 1975) a deeper understanding of one another is fostered. This strengthens the commitment to fostering intimacy (M. S. Clark & Grote, 2003). This was observable in the collaborative relationship between eminent scientists Marie and Pierre Curie. Although Marie possessed a deep understanding of abstract mathematics, Pierre worked on developing instruments for measurement (John-Steiner, 2000). Their relationship spanned their careers, and the complementary nature of their talents evident in their work. However, heir productivity and success is arguably more related to their deep understanding of one another. This included work habits, values, and emotional boundaries, all of which can support individual and collaborative success.
Although the sense of knowing developed within relationships can support achievements, the willingness to share can differ based on current perceptions of trust and motivations for establishing the relationships (Cozby, 1973; Fitness, 1996; Jourard, 1971) as well as personality (Reno & Kenny, 1992), and changes in mood (Forgas, 2011). Additionally, the power dynamics of relationships can influence inhibitions. Consider the mentor/mentee relationships supported in the literature (e.g., Bloom, 1985; John-Steiner, 2000; Kronborg, 2010). Here, one individual often holds the power—status and resources—while the other remains in development. This has led some (Farrell, 2001; Nijstad, 2015; Taylor & Altman, 1975) to raise concerns about the ability to be creative in these relationships. Those without power may hesitate to present new ideas due to fears of harsh judgment or a sense of indebtedness to the mentor's paradigm. Nonetheless, relationships evolve. As skills develop and social contexts change, so does the balance of power, leading to matched abilities and the emergence of complementary resources.
From Lockhart, 2025, pp. 34-36.
Music
Beirut. (2006). “Postcards from Italy,” Gulag Orkestar. Ba Da Bing.
Recommended video citation
Lockhart, D. (2025). Self-Disclosure [Includes Reel that was originally posted on Instagram by Dana Lockhart using handle @inquiryassemblage] [Found in The Performance page which is indexed under #storyofeminence]. L’Assemblee pour L’Art et la Recherche.
Closeness
Closeness grows when there is an openness to the emotions of intimacy and disclosures of others (Aron & Fraley, 1999; Dibble et al., 2012; Forgas, 2011). This enables deeper engagement in relationships and strengthens commitments between individuals. As a result, the interpersonal distance begins to diminish (Kirshner et al., 1978; Laurenceau et al., 1998), leading to a further understanding of how others think and feel. In close relationships, a common knowledge of what matters in collaborations develops (Hopwood & Edwards, 2017). Shared values allow for effective communication (Laurenceau et al., 1998), facilitating ongoing trust and sharing (H. T. Reis, 2017; H. T. Reis et al., 2004)—ultimately strengthening intimate collaborations. Although closeness is visible in the effectiveness of communication (Timmerman, 1991), non-verbal communication can also indicate closeness in relationships. This type of communication can be vital for innovation (Nijstad, 2015; Sawyer, 2014).
Aron et al. (1997) argued that "closeness is including other in the self" (p. 27), a notion echoing Merleau-Ponty's (1962) description of our double beings. However, closeness can be experienced in different ways, including cognitive and emotional components. Cognitive closeness describes the ability to take another's perspective, recognize the reasoning for reactions, and predict how they will react (Dibble et al., 2012). This provides a sense of control, as predictability reduces the perceived risks taken in trusting another, allowing for continued closeness. Emotional closeness refers to the affectivity often felt in relationships, which includes the intensity of our feelings, which Hackenbracht and Gasper (2013) found can indicate the closeness of a relationship. At the same time, closeness varies in different relationships. For example, low enthusiasm for a collaborator's success may indicate a close yet highly competitive relationship, demonstrating a different dynamic that still reflects closeness.
When cognitive and emotional aspects of closeness combine, a productive interdependency can be created (Rusbult & van Lange, 2003) which fosters shared goals and visions (Farrell, 2001; Rouse, 2020). In these relationships, frequent and strong influences occur in diverse ways over time (Kelley et al., 1983). An interconnectedness is felt that fosters trust and encourages self-disclosures (Aron & Fraley, 1999; Aron et al., 1997; Khalifian & Barry, 2020). This increases the intimacy, with “I” becoming “We” (van Lange & Balliet, 2015). Van Lange and Balliet (2015) emphasized the work of K. Lewin and G. W. Lewin (1948), who described the experience of interdependency as,
The essence of a group is not the similarity or dissimilarity of its members, but their interdependence. A change in the state of any subpart changes the state of any other subpart. Every move of one member will, relatively speaking, deeply affect the other members, and the state of the group. (K. Lewin & G.W. Lewin, 1948, as cited in Lange & Balliet, 2015, pp. 87-88)
Productivity as intimate collaborators can depend on the type of interdependency developed. It may be positive, with effective communication and an even distribution of power (Deutsch, 2011; Rusbult, 2003). Here, collaborators can use competition as an opportunity to develop and share skills. The feedback is constructive and matches the other’s temperaments in ways that enables confidence and forward movement. This further underscores the importance of not only complementary self-disclosures but also personalities (Rusbult, 2003; Rusbult & van Lange, 2003). Some temperaments work better with others, furthering the desire to trust and share. Although research is sparse, the elements of intimacy described have been an emergent factor in scholars’ path to eminence.
From Lockhart, 2025, pp. 36-38.
Recommended video citation
Lockhart, D. (2025). Closeness [Includes Reel that was originally posted on Instagram by Dana Lockhart using handle @inquiryassemblage] [Found in The Performance page which is indexed under #storyofeminence]. L’Assemblee pour L’Art et la Recherche.
Aron et al. (1997) argued that "closeness is including other in the self" (p. 27), a notion echoing Merleau-Ponty's (1962) description of our double beings. However, closeness can be experienced in different ways, including cognitive and emotional components. Cognitive closeness describes the ability to take another's perspective, recognize the reasoning for reactions, and predict how they will react (Dibble et al., 2012). This provides a sense of control, as predictability reduces the perceived risks taken in trusting another, allowing for continued closeness. Emotional closeness refers to the affectivity often felt in relationships, which includes the intensity of our feelings, which Hackenbracht and Gasper (2013) found can indicate the closeness of a relationship. At the same time, closeness varies in different relationships. For example, low enthusiasm for a collaborator's success may indicate a close yet highly competitive relationship, demonstrating a different dynamic that still reflects closeness.
When cognitive and emotional aspects of closeness combine, a productive interdependency can be created (Rusbult & van Lange, 2003) which fosters shared goals and visions (Farrell, 2001; Rouse, 2020). In these relationships, frequent and strong influences occur in diverse ways over time (Kelley et al., 1983). An interconnectedness is felt that fosters trust and encourages self-disclosures (Aron & Fraley, 1999; Aron et al., 1997; Khalifian & Barry, 2020). This increases the intimacy, with “I” becoming “We” (van Lange & Balliet, 2015). Van Lange and Balliet (2015) emphasized the work of K. Lewin and G. W. Lewin (1948), who described the experience of interdependency as,
The essence of a group is not the similarity or dissimilarity of its members, but their interdependence. A change in the state of any subpart changes the state of any other subpart. Every move of one member will, relatively speaking, deeply affect the other members, and the state of the group. (K. Lewin & G.W. Lewin, 1948, as cited in Lange & Balliet, 2015, pp. 87-88)
Productivity as intimate collaborators can depend on the type of interdependency developed. It may be positive, with effective communication and an even distribution of power (Deutsch, 2011; Rusbult, 2003). Here, collaborators can use competition as an opportunity to develop and share skills. The feedback is constructive and matches the other’s temperaments in ways that enables confidence and forward movement. This further underscores the importance of not only complementary self-disclosures but also personalities (Rusbult, 2003; Rusbult & van Lange, 2003). Some temperaments work better with others, furthering the desire to trust and share. Although research is sparse, the elements of intimacy described have been an emergent factor in scholars’ path to eminence.
From Lockhart, 2025, pp. 36-38.
Recommended video citation
Lockhart, D. (2025). Closeness [Includes Reel that was originally posted on Instagram by Dana Lockhart using handle @inquiryassemblage] [Found in The Performance page which is indexed under #storyofeminence]. L’Assemblee pour L’Art et la Recherche.
Chapter 3
Methods
I explored how collaborative relationships fostered eminence in this study. Relationships are dynamic and constantly in flux, requiring more than the static measurements generated in positivists’ studies. They have temporal and dynamic elements that must be captured by the researcher in order to explore their interconnectedness with achievement. This emphasis on the shared nature of phenomena is a perspective that aligns with the study’s constructivist grounding (Lincoln & Guba, 1985) and introduces two assumptions to this study. First, knowledge is social and subjective. In turn, the understandings generated in life and research are co-constructed through social interactions. Second, reality is self-constructed. That is, there can be no one truth (Charmaz, 2017). There are multiple realities, all of which provide a valuable perspective of the world.
To support this qualitative perspective I selected narrative inquiry, which is a qualitative method that has the ability to capture the dynamic nature of relationships and different perspectives of individuals. This occurs through the generation of a story that spans time and space. After I made that decision, I explored the bildungsroman, thinking that would be appropriate given that these stories are often a hero’s journey, much like myths and legends. However, when I started to write this chapter the approach did not fit with my perspective of the topic. I am arguing that collaborative relationships are critical elements of attaining eminence, however, I sought to prioritize the relationships as opposed to the achievement. This led me to the oral history tradition. This approach to research generates a historical document, which are what Galton (1874), and others (Cattell, 1848; Raskin, 1936) used to create the inventories of eminent individuals, whom much of the knowledge on talent development derives from. In turn, this study supports a new inventory of eminent individuals within the context of their collaborative relationships.
Narrative Inquiry.
Narrative inquiry is a qualitative method in which narrative is central to the human experience. It can be broadly described as “a form of knowledge that catches the two sides of narrative, telling as well as knowing” (Kim, 2016, p. 6). At the core of this method are individual stories. These personal narratives are essential to research. Broadly understood as representations of events or experience (Genette & Levonas, 1976), they are methods of data collection, vehicles for findings, and the forms in which knowledge takes. Bruner (1987) was seminal to narrative theorizing. He proposed two ways of knowing, the paradigmatic mode and narrative mode. The former mode emphasizes positivistic verification of knowledge. These are quantitative explorations that most often generate findings related to static experiences. The latter, however, locates events in time and space to find meaning in their complexity. This is similar to Polkinghorne’s (1988) theorizing of narrative knowing, which highlights the multiple realms of analysis, one of which is a realm of meaning. The breadth of narratives creates space for researchers to use the methodology in various disciplines. For example, Sarbin (1998) emphasized the “storied nature of human action” and the use of narratives in psychology. Similarly, Connelly and Clandinin (1990) introduced the term narrative inquiry to educational research on the premise that “narrative is a way of organizing human experience, since humans lead storied lives individually and socially” (p. 18).
In narrative inquiry, there is a distinction between the narrative and the story. The former are found within interviews, observations, or artifacts. The latter, the story, is the structured and temporal arrangement of narratives that redescribe the world (Bruner, 1987; Kim, 2016). The storying process can be seen as a point of flexibility in narrative inquiry. Researchers have provided guidance, however, there is no prescription for this process. It is instead the researcher who is the instrument that shapes the stories.
Oral History Tradition.
Narrative theory and inquiry is a broad methodology that can cover a range of epistemological perspectives, one of them being the oral history tradition. This approach to research is grounded in cognition and argues that memories are a source of the people’s history (Thomson, 2007, p. 50). It is a pragmatic approach to understanding the history, as it seeks to reconstruct the past through stories of the individual and emotional experience of those who lived it (Vansina, 1965). Researchers in the oral history tradition see memory as an active process that must be engaged with. This occurs through the interview process (Tonkin, 1992), which is a critical element of oral history.
Crafting oral history requires that researchers generate two stories—with the participants nested within the researchers. The participant’s narratives are generated memories. They are recollections of the remembered self, which is the self that is constructed while remembering (Bruner, 1987). The participants have the authority on this narrative. The second story is the researcher’s narrative. They are given authority here in their analysis and the final storying process. An important part of this method is providing the reader with support to engage in their own analysis. Often this is done by including transcripts and question prompts. This supports the trustworthiness of the historical reporting and allows the reader to engage in their own analysis. To maintain methodological alignment, I have selected methods grounded in cognition and allow for studying dynamic experiences. This included the framework and interview protocols that were developed for this study and specific to the treatment of memories (Merrill & West, 2009).
From Lockhart, 2025, pp. 39-42.
Music
Beirut. (2006). “Postcards from Italy,” Gulag Orkestar. Ba Da Bing.
Recommended video citation
Lockhart, D. (2025). Chapter 3 Methods [Includes Reel that was originally posted on Instagram by Dana Lockhart using handle @inquiryassemblage] [Found in The Performance page which is indexed under #storyofeminence]. L’Assemblee pour L’Art et la Recherche.
To support this qualitative perspective I selected narrative inquiry, which is a qualitative method that has the ability to capture the dynamic nature of relationships and different perspectives of individuals. This occurs through the generation of a story that spans time and space. After I made that decision, I explored the bildungsroman, thinking that would be appropriate given that these stories are often a hero’s journey, much like myths and legends. However, when I started to write this chapter the approach did not fit with my perspective of the topic. I am arguing that collaborative relationships are critical elements of attaining eminence, however, I sought to prioritize the relationships as opposed to the achievement. This led me to the oral history tradition. This approach to research generates a historical document, which are what Galton (1874), and others (Cattell, 1848; Raskin, 1936) used to create the inventories of eminent individuals, whom much of the knowledge on talent development derives from. In turn, this study supports a new inventory of eminent individuals within the context of their collaborative relationships.
Narrative Inquiry.
Narrative inquiry is a qualitative method in which narrative is central to the human experience. It can be broadly described as “a form of knowledge that catches the two sides of narrative, telling as well as knowing” (Kim, 2016, p. 6). At the core of this method are individual stories. These personal narratives are essential to research. Broadly understood as representations of events or experience (Genette & Levonas, 1976), they are methods of data collection, vehicles for findings, and the forms in which knowledge takes. Bruner (1987) was seminal to narrative theorizing. He proposed two ways of knowing, the paradigmatic mode and narrative mode. The former mode emphasizes positivistic verification of knowledge. These are quantitative explorations that most often generate findings related to static experiences. The latter, however, locates events in time and space to find meaning in their complexity. This is similar to Polkinghorne’s (1988) theorizing of narrative knowing, which highlights the multiple realms of analysis, one of which is a realm of meaning. The breadth of narratives creates space for researchers to use the methodology in various disciplines. For example, Sarbin (1998) emphasized the “storied nature of human action” and the use of narratives in psychology. Similarly, Connelly and Clandinin (1990) introduced the term narrative inquiry to educational research on the premise that “narrative is a way of organizing human experience, since humans lead storied lives individually and socially” (p. 18).
In narrative inquiry, there is a distinction between the narrative and the story. The former are found within interviews, observations, or artifacts. The latter, the story, is the structured and temporal arrangement of narratives that redescribe the world (Bruner, 1987; Kim, 2016). The storying process can be seen as a point of flexibility in narrative inquiry. Researchers have provided guidance, however, there is no prescription for this process. It is instead the researcher who is the instrument that shapes the stories.
Oral History Tradition.
Narrative theory and inquiry is a broad methodology that can cover a range of epistemological perspectives, one of them being the oral history tradition. This approach to research is grounded in cognition and argues that memories are a source of the people’s history (Thomson, 2007, p. 50). It is a pragmatic approach to understanding the history, as it seeks to reconstruct the past through stories of the individual and emotional experience of those who lived it (Vansina, 1965). Researchers in the oral history tradition see memory as an active process that must be engaged with. This occurs through the interview process (Tonkin, 1992), which is a critical element of oral history.
Crafting oral history requires that researchers generate two stories—with the participants nested within the researchers. The participant’s narratives are generated memories. They are recollections of the remembered self, which is the self that is constructed while remembering (Bruner, 1987). The participants have the authority on this narrative. The second story is the researcher’s narrative. They are given authority here in their analysis and the final storying process. An important part of this method is providing the reader with support to engage in their own analysis. Often this is done by including transcripts and question prompts. This supports the trustworthiness of the historical reporting and allows the reader to engage in their own analysis. To maintain methodological alignment, I have selected methods grounded in cognition and allow for studying dynamic experiences. This included the framework and interview protocols that were developed for this study and specific to the treatment of memories (Merrill & West, 2009).
From Lockhart, 2025, pp. 39-42.
Music
Beirut. (2006). “Postcards from Italy,” Gulag Orkestar. Ba Da Bing.
Recommended video citation
Lockhart, D. (2025). Chapter 3 Methods [Includes Reel that was originally posted on Instagram by Dana Lockhart using handle @inquiryassemblage] [Found in The Performance page which is indexed under #storyofeminence]. L’Assemblee pour L’Art et la Recherche.
Interview Design
Mueller’s (2019) episodic interview design guided the interview design in this study, which introduced an adaptation of the traditional episodic interview approach to support narrative inquiry. This provided a framework for eliciting episodic memories that supported a linear story and additionally maintained theoretical alignment. This is an important consideration when generating data for oral history as the finding is often the big story (Tonkin, 1992). It is a reconstruction of history, as told through the stories of those who lived it. This means that researchers must attend to both experience and time. Regarding the former, the experience explored in this episodic interview was the path to eminence. I specifically sought information about their collaborative relationships, having an assumption that they would emerge in some form or another. Regarding temporality, I sought to elicit episodic memories within the span of their academic careers. These are distinct from semantic memories, which are perceptions of experience (Flick, 2000). These memories are what one thinks occurred. Participants will respond in ways such as, “I thought we had fun…” or “He seemed okay…” But in the oral history tradition, researchers and participants are generating a historical document. Responses such as “I remember it was…” and “I specifically recall you saying that…” are more aligned. This enables the telling of a story of how it once was.
From Lockhart, 2025, pp. 47-48.
Recommended video citation
Lockhart, D. (2025). Interview Design [Includes Reel that was originally posted on Instagram by Dana Lockhart using handle @inquiryassemblage] [Found in The Performance page which is indexed under #storyofeminence]. L’Assemblee pour L’Art et la Recherche.
From Lockhart, 2025, pp. 47-48.
Recommended video citation
Lockhart, D. (2025). Interview Design [Includes Reel that was originally posted on Instagram by Dana Lockhart using handle @inquiryassemblage] [Found in The Performance page which is indexed under #storyofeminence]. L’Assemblee pour L’Art et la Recherche.
The Episodic Interviews
The episodic interviews began with a short introduction to bring participants into the topic of focus. Following this conversation, I focused on invoking memories of experiences. For example, I asked participants to think back and tell me about working on a project together. As discussed, I would look for more specific experiences to follow up on. This included probes for information on events that occurred after, along with questions such as questions such as, “What were your strengths when working on the project?” As I did this, I considered the environment of their stories to introduce details that may make their experiences become more vivid. In the oral history tradition, the use of sensory experiences can be a supportive tool for interviewing (A. Harris, 2015). For example, in a pilot interview a scholar was recalling a story that took place at an Embassy Suits to which I asked, "They have those waterfalls in the middle of the lobby, right?" A few minutes later, they generated memories that occurred in the lobby, and then from there, more details about the event of interest emerged.
In another interview, participants were recalling the details of their first meetings. As one was reflecting back, the others had trouble remembering. I then asked questions such as, "Wait, it gets cold up there, right? I bet it was nice to leave for that conference." As more joined the conversation and compared the winters at their different universities, the memories began to emerge. The interviews were difficult at times. The scholars wanted to focus on their theories or work as opposed to specific experiences they had with one another. However, when guided, they began connecting their work to their relationships.
From Lockhart, 2025, pp. 48-49.
Music
Modest Mouse. (1996). “Dramamine,” This Is a long drive for someone with nothing to think about. Times Music; Up Records.
Recommended video citation
Lockhart, D. (2025). The Episodic Interview [Includes Reel that was originally posted on Instagram by Dana Lockhart using handle @inquiryassemblage] [Found in The Performance page which is indexed under #storyofeminence]. L’Assemblee pour L’Art et la Recherche.
In another interview, participants were recalling the details of their first meetings. As one was reflecting back, the others had trouble remembering. I then asked questions such as, "Wait, it gets cold up there, right? I bet it was nice to leave for that conference." As more joined the conversation and compared the winters at their different universities, the memories began to emerge. The interviews were difficult at times. The scholars wanted to focus on their theories or work as opposed to specific experiences they had with one another. However, when guided, they began connecting their work to their relationships.
From Lockhart, 2025, pp. 48-49.
Music
Modest Mouse. (1996). “Dramamine,” This Is a long drive for someone with nothing to think about. Times Music; Up Records.
Recommended video citation
Lockhart, D. (2025). The Episodic Interview [Includes Reel that was originally posted on Instagram by Dana Lockhart using handle @inquiryassemblage] [Found in The Performance page which is indexed under #storyofeminence]. L’Assemblee pour L’Art et la Recherche.
Data Analysis of Interviews
The analysis in this study occurred in four phases (Figure 4). The first three phases generated the individual stories that explore how the individual and unique collaborative relationships helped to foster their eminence. The first phase is where I determined what to include and exclude. This resulted in preliminary story. The second phase was the structural coding of the participant’s interview. This is where I used my framework for intimacy and isolated the emotional elements of participant’s memories. I struggled with this phase and in turn, I had to reconsider the reductionist approach that I was using. This led me to use a holistic approach to analysis during the third phase. Here, my analysis occurred through the writing process and concluded with participant’s story and their structures of experience. In the fourth and final phase, the individual stories were explored as a single larger story. This allowed me to address my research questions within the larger story of this study, which is eminence and collaborative relationships within the field of gifted education.
From Lockhart, 2025, p. 49.
Music
Rihanna. (2025). “Friend of mine,” Smurfs movie soundtrack (Music from & inspired by). Westbury Road; Roc Nation.
Recommended video citation
Lockhart, D. (2025). Data Analysis of Interviews [Includes Reel that was originally posted on Instagram by Dana Lockhart using handle @inquiryassemblage] [Found in The Performance page which is indexed under #storyofeminence]. L’Assemblee pour L’Art et la Recherche.
From Lockhart, 2025, p. 49.
Music
Rihanna. (2025). “Friend of mine,” Smurfs movie soundtrack (Music from & inspired by). Westbury Road; Roc Nation.
Recommended video citation
Lockhart, D. (2025). Data Analysis of Interviews [Includes Reel that was originally posted on Instagram by Dana Lockhart using handle @inquiryassemblage] [Found in The Performance page which is indexed under #storyofeminence]. L’Assemblee pour L’Art et la Recherche.
Chapter 4
The Stories of Eminence
The first story of eminence in this dissertation began with Sally and Joe, pioneers in the field of Gifted Education (from Lockhart, 2025)
The story of Sally and Joe begins in the traditional paradigm of gifted education, with Joe stepping out into the field with a novel, and initially unpopular theory. But soon after, Sally enters the picture and the two pull the field into Khun’s “model drift” phase of the paradigm change cycle. Stories such as these occur when scholars recognize that the traditional models for understanding are unable to explain the emerging anomalies of one’s field. They challenge tradition by questioning our assumptions. These are the ways that one conceptualizes the phenomena of study. In the field of gifted education, scholars sought to find the illusive gifted child.
From Lockhart, 2025, p. 69.
Music
Shannon and the Clams. (2018). “The boy,” Onion. Easy Eye.
Recommended video citation
Lockhart, D. (2025). Chapter 4 The Stories of Eminence [Includes Reel that was originally posted on Instagram by Dana Lockhart using handle @inquiryassemblage] [Found in The Performance page which is indexed under #storyofeminence]. L’Assemblee pour L’Art et la Recherche.
The story of Sally and Joe begins in the traditional paradigm of gifted education, with Joe stepping out into the field with a novel, and initially unpopular theory. But soon after, Sally enters the picture and the two pull the field into Khun’s “model drift” phase of the paradigm change cycle. Stories such as these occur when scholars recognize that the traditional models for understanding are unable to explain the emerging anomalies of one’s field. They challenge tradition by questioning our assumptions. These are the ways that one conceptualizes the phenomena of study. In the field of gifted education, scholars sought to find the illusive gifted child.
From Lockhart, 2025, p. 69.
Music
Shannon and the Clams. (2018). “The boy,” Onion. Easy Eye.
Recommended video citation
Lockhart, D. (2025). Chapter 4 The Stories of Eminence [Includes Reel that was originally posted on Instagram by Dana Lockhart using handle @inquiryassemblage] [Found in The Performance page which is indexed under #storyofeminence]. L’Assemblee pour L’Art et la Recherche.
Dr. Joe Renzulli
Dr. Joseph S. Renzulli is a leader and pioneer in gifted education and applying the pedagogy of gifted education teaching strategies to all students. The American Psychological Association named him among the 25 most influential psychologists in the world. He received the Harold W. McGraw, Jr. Award for Innovation in Education, considered by many to be “the Nobel” for educators, and was a consultant to the White House Task Force on Education of the Gifted and Talented. His work on the Three Ring Conception of Giftedness, the Enrichment Triad Model and curriculum compacting and differentiation were pioneering efforts in the 1970s, and he has contributed hundreds of books, book chapters, articles, and monographs to the professional literature, many of which have been translated to other languages. Dr. has received more than $50 million in research grants and several million dollars of additional funding for professional development and service projects.
Dr. Renzulli established UConn’s annual Confratute Program with fellow Educational Psychology Professor Sally Reis. This summer institute on enrichment-based differentiated teaching has served more than 35,000 teachers from around the world since 1978. Dr. Renzulli also established the UConn Mentor Connection, a summer program that enables high-potential high school students to work side by side with leading scientists, historians, and artists and other leading edge university researchers. He is also the founder along with Dr. Reis of the Joseph S. Renzulli Gifted and Talented Academy in Hartford, Connecticut which has become a model for local and national urban school reform for high potential/low income students.
His most recent work is an online personalized learning program that provides profiles of each student’s academic strengths, interests, learning styles, and preferred modes of expression. This unique program also has a search engine that matches multiply coded resources with student profiles. Teachers also use the program to select and infuse high engagement enrichment activities into any and all standardized curriculum topics.
Music
Hot Chip. (2007). “Boy from school,” The warning. EMI; Astralwerks.
Recommended video citation
Lockhart, D. (2025). Dr. Joe Renzulli [Includes Reel that was originally posted on Instagram by Dana Lockhart using handle @inquiryassemblage] [Found in The Performance page which is indexed under #storyofeminence]. L’Assemblee pour L’Art et la Recherche.
Dr. Renzulli established UConn’s annual Confratute Program with fellow Educational Psychology Professor Sally Reis. This summer institute on enrichment-based differentiated teaching has served more than 35,000 teachers from around the world since 1978. Dr. Renzulli also established the UConn Mentor Connection, a summer program that enables high-potential high school students to work side by side with leading scientists, historians, and artists and other leading edge university researchers. He is also the founder along with Dr. Reis of the Joseph S. Renzulli Gifted and Talented Academy in Hartford, Connecticut which has become a model for local and national urban school reform for high potential/low income students.
His most recent work is an online personalized learning program that provides profiles of each student’s academic strengths, interests, learning styles, and preferred modes of expression. This unique program also has a search engine that matches multiply coded resources with student profiles. Teachers also use the program to select and infuse high engagement enrichment activities into any and all standardized curriculum topics.
Music
Hot Chip. (2007). “Boy from school,” The warning. EMI; Astralwerks.
Recommended video citation
Lockhart, D. (2025). Dr. Joe Renzulli [Includes Reel that was originally posted on Instagram by Dana Lockhart using handle @inquiryassemblage] [Found in The Performance page which is indexed under #storyofeminence]. L’Assemblee pour L’Art et la Recherche.
Dr. Sally M. Reis
Sally Reis is a Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor and a Teaching Fellow in Educational Psychology at the University of Connecticut. She previously held the Letitia Neag Chair in Educational Psychology. She was a public school teacher and administrator for 15 years, prior to her work at UConn. She has authored more than 250 articles, books, book chapters, monographs and technical reports. She has traveled extensively across the country conducting workshops and providing professional development for school districts on enrichment programs and gender equity programs. Sally serves on the editorial board of the Gifted Child Quarterly, and is a past-president of The National Association for Gifted Children. She is a fellow of the American Psychological Association and was named a Distinguished Scholar of the National Association for Gifted Children.
Music
Zombies. (1968). “Time of the season,” Odyssey and oracle. EMI.
Recommended video citation
Lockhart, D. (2025). Dr. Sally M. Reis [Includes Reel that was originally posted on Instagram by Dana Lockhart using handle @inquiryassemblage] [Found in The Performance page which is indexed under #storyofeminence]. L’Assemblee pour L’Art et la Recherche.
Music
Zombies. (1968). “Time of the season,” Odyssey and oracle. EMI.
Recommended video citation
Lockhart, D. (2025). Dr. Sally M. Reis [Includes Reel that was originally posted on Instagram by Dana Lockhart using handle @inquiryassemblage] [Found in The Performance page which is indexed under #storyofeminence]. L’Assemblee pour L’Art et la Recherche.
Dr. Robert J. Sternberg
Robert J. Sternberg is Professor of Psychology in the Cornell Human Ecology college at Cornell University. He was previously Provost, Senior Vice President, Regents Professor of Psychology and Education, and George Kaiser Family Foundation Chair of Ethical Leadership at Oklahoma State University. He also is Honorary Professor of Psychology at Heidelberg University.
He was previously Dean of Arts and Sciences and Professor of Psychology and Education at Tufts University, and before that, IBM Professor of Psychology and Education, Professor of Management, and Director of the Center for the Psychology of Abilities, Competencies, and Expertise at Yale University. He is a Past President of the American Psychological Association, the Eastern Psychological Association, Federation of Associations in Behavioral and Brain Sciences, and the International Association for Cognitive Education and Psychology, as well as Treasurer of the Association of American Colleges and Universities. He has been Editor of Perspectives on Psychological Science, Psychological Bulletin, and The APA Review of Books: Contemporary Psychlogy. He holds 13 honorary doctorates and is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Education.
His awards include:
William Stern Award, Institute of Psychology, University of Wroclaw, 2023; Florence L. Denmark Award for Significant Contributions to Psychology, Psychology Department, Pace University, 2019; Grawemeyer Award in Psychology, 2018; William James Fellow Award, Association for Psychological Science, 2017; Ernest R. Hilgard Award for Lifetime Contributions to General Psychology, American Psychological Association, Division of General Psychology (1), 2017; Distinguished Service Award, International Association for Cognitive Education and Psychology, 2011; Presidential Award for Distinguished Lifetime Contributions to the Public Understanding of Psychology, American Psychological Association Division of Media Psychology (46), 2008; Sir Francis Galton Award, International Association of Empirical Aesthetics, 2008; E. Paul Torrance Award, National Association for Gifted Children, 2006; Interamerican Psychologist Award, Interamerican Society of Psychology, 2005; Arnheim Award, Division of Psychology and the Arts (10) of the American Psychological Association, 2005; Anton Jurovsky Award, Slovak Psychological Society, 2004; Arthur W. Staats Award, American Psychological Foundation and the Society for General Psychology (American Psychological Association Division 1), 2003; Farnsworth Award, Division of Psychology and the Arts (10) of the American Psychological Association, 2003; E. L. Thorndike Career Achievement Award, Division of Educational Psychology (15) of the American Psychological Association, 2003; Positive Psychology Network Distinguished Scientist and Scholar Award, 2002; Outstanding Academic Title, CHOICE (American Library Association) for International handbook of giftedness and talent, co-editor, 2001; Distinguished Lifetime Contribution to Psychology Award, Connecticut Psychological Association, 1999; Palmer O. Johnson Award, American Educational Research Association, 1999; James McKeen Cattell Award, Association for Psychological Science, 1999; Distinción of Honor SEK, Institución Educativa SEK, Madrid, 1997; Sylvia Scribner Award, American Educational Research Association (Division C), 1996; International Award, Association of Portuguese Psychologists, 1991; Award for Excellence, Mensa Education and Research Foundation (MERF), 1989; Citation Classic Designation, Institute for Scientific Information for Intelligence, information processing, and analogical reasoning: The componential analysis of human abilities, 1987; Outstanding Book Award, American Educational Research Association for Beyond IQ: A triarchic theory of human intelligence, 1987; Research Review Award, American Educational Research Association (co-recipient), 1986; Distinguished Scholar Award, the National Association for Gifted Children, 1985; Cattell Award, Society of Multivariate Experimental Psychology, 1982; Boyd R. McCandless Young Scientist Award, Division of Developmental Psychology (7) of the American Psychological Association, 1982; Distinguished Scientific Award for an Early Career Contribution to Psychology, American Psychological Association, 1981; Sidney Siegel Memorial Award, Stanford University, 1975; Wohlenberg Prize, Berkeley College, Yale University, 1972.
He is a member of the National Academy of Education and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He also is a member of the Society of Experimental Psychologists.
Sternberg's Google h index is 237, his i-10 index 1227, and he has been cited roughly 240,000 times in the scholarly literature.
He has been listed #1 lifetime ranking in the field of Human Development and Family Studies by ScholarGPS, 2023; He has been listed #15 in the world and #7 in the United States for “Top Scientists in the Field of Psychology” by research.com, May 2023; He is the #1 cited author over the past 10 years by global h-index corrected for self-citation and local g-index in the Journal of Intelligence; #2 in global h-index in the journal Intelligence, in which he does not regularly publish (J. Intell. b, 11(2), 35); He has been listed in the Top 25 Influential Psychologists 2010-2020; He has been listed in the top 2% of scholars in citations in the field of education by Stanford University, November 2020, ranked #3 in citations in the field of education; He has been listed as one of the "30 Most Influential Psychologists Working Today", 2019; He has been listed as one of the “The 50 Most Influential Living Psychologists” by The Best Schools, 2018; listed as one of the “Top 33 Psychologists for Psychology Textbook Citations”, Griggs & Christopher, Teaching of Psychology, 2016, 43(2), p. 114 (ranked #5); listed as one of the “Top 100 Psychologists of the 20th Century,” APA Monitor, July/August 2002, p. 29 (ranked #60); listed as one of the 200 most eminent psychologists of the modern (Post World-War II) era by Diener, Oishi, Park survey in Archives of Scientific Psychology (ranked #61); ISI Highly Cited List in Psychology/Psychiatry (2003–) (based on scientific citations 1981–1999); listed in the Esquire Register recognizing the achievements of outstanding American men and women under 40, 1986; Listed as one of the 100 “Top Young Scientists in the U.S.,” Science Digest, 1984.
Recommended video citation
Lockhart, D. (2025). Dr. Robert J. Sternberg [Includes Reel that was originally posted on Instagram by Dana Lockhart using handle @inquiryassemblage] [Found in The Performance page which is indexed under #storyofeminence]. L’Assemblee pour L’Art et la Recherche.
He was previously Dean of Arts and Sciences and Professor of Psychology and Education at Tufts University, and before that, IBM Professor of Psychology and Education, Professor of Management, and Director of the Center for the Psychology of Abilities, Competencies, and Expertise at Yale University. He is a Past President of the American Psychological Association, the Eastern Psychological Association, Federation of Associations in Behavioral and Brain Sciences, and the International Association for Cognitive Education and Psychology, as well as Treasurer of the Association of American Colleges and Universities. He has been Editor of Perspectives on Psychological Science, Psychological Bulletin, and The APA Review of Books: Contemporary Psychlogy. He holds 13 honorary doctorates and is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Education.
His awards include:
William Stern Award, Institute of Psychology, University of Wroclaw, 2023; Florence L. Denmark Award for Significant Contributions to Psychology, Psychology Department, Pace University, 2019; Grawemeyer Award in Psychology, 2018; William James Fellow Award, Association for Psychological Science, 2017; Ernest R. Hilgard Award for Lifetime Contributions to General Psychology, American Psychological Association, Division of General Psychology (1), 2017; Distinguished Service Award, International Association for Cognitive Education and Psychology, 2011; Presidential Award for Distinguished Lifetime Contributions to the Public Understanding of Psychology, American Psychological Association Division of Media Psychology (46), 2008; Sir Francis Galton Award, International Association of Empirical Aesthetics, 2008; E. Paul Torrance Award, National Association for Gifted Children, 2006; Interamerican Psychologist Award, Interamerican Society of Psychology, 2005; Arnheim Award, Division of Psychology and the Arts (10) of the American Psychological Association, 2005; Anton Jurovsky Award, Slovak Psychological Society, 2004; Arthur W. Staats Award, American Psychological Foundation and the Society for General Psychology (American Psychological Association Division 1), 2003; Farnsworth Award, Division of Psychology and the Arts (10) of the American Psychological Association, 2003; E. L. Thorndike Career Achievement Award, Division of Educational Psychology (15) of the American Psychological Association, 2003; Positive Psychology Network Distinguished Scientist and Scholar Award, 2002; Outstanding Academic Title, CHOICE (American Library Association) for International handbook of giftedness and talent, co-editor, 2001; Distinguished Lifetime Contribution to Psychology Award, Connecticut Psychological Association, 1999; Palmer O. Johnson Award, American Educational Research Association, 1999; James McKeen Cattell Award, Association for Psychological Science, 1999; Distinción of Honor SEK, Institución Educativa SEK, Madrid, 1997; Sylvia Scribner Award, American Educational Research Association (Division C), 1996; International Award, Association of Portuguese Psychologists, 1991; Award for Excellence, Mensa Education and Research Foundation (MERF), 1989; Citation Classic Designation, Institute for Scientific Information for Intelligence, information processing, and analogical reasoning: The componential analysis of human abilities, 1987; Outstanding Book Award, American Educational Research Association for Beyond IQ: A triarchic theory of human intelligence, 1987; Research Review Award, American Educational Research Association (co-recipient), 1986; Distinguished Scholar Award, the National Association for Gifted Children, 1985; Cattell Award, Society of Multivariate Experimental Psychology, 1982; Boyd R. McCandless Young Scientist Award, Division of Developmental Psychology (7) of the American Psychological Association, 1982; Distinguished Scientific Award for an Early Career Contribution to Psychology, American Psychological Association, 1981; Sidney Siegel Memorial Award, Stanford University, 1975; Wohlenberg Prize, Berkeley College, Yale University, 1972.
He is a member of the National Academy of Education and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He also is a member of the Society of Experimental Psychologists.
Sternberg's Google h index is 237, his i-10 index 1227, and he has been cited roughly 240,000 times in the scholarly literature.
He has been listed #1 lifetime ranking in the field of Human Development and Family Studies by ScholarGPS, 2023; He has been listed #15 in the world and #7 in the United States for “Top Scientists in the Field of Psychology” by research.com, May 2023; He is the #1 cited author over the past 10 years by global h-index corrected for self-citation and local g-index in the Journal of Intelligence; #2 in global h-index in the journal Intelligence, in which he does not regularly publish (J. Intell. b, 11(2), 35); He has been listed in the Top 25 Influential Psychologists 2010-2020; He has been listed in the top 2% of scholars in citations in the field of education by Stanford University, November 2020, ranked #3 in citations in the field of education; He has been listed as one of the "30 Most Influential Psychologists Working Today", 2019; He has been listed as one of the “The 50 Most Influential Living Psychologists” by The Best Schools, 2018; listed as one of the “Top 33 Psychologists for Psychology Textbook Citations”, Griggs & Christopher, Teaching of Psychology, 2016, 43(2), p. 114 (ranked #5); listed as one of the “Top 100 Psychologists of the 20th Century,” APA Monitor, July/August 2002, p. 29 (ranked #60); listed as one of the 200 most eminent psychologists of the modern (Post World-War II) era by Diener, Oishi, Park survey in Archives of Scientific Psychology (ranked #61); ISI Highly Cited List in Psychology/Psychiatry (2003–) (based on scientific citations 1981–1999); listed in the Esquire Register recognizing the achievements of outstanding American men and women under 40, 1986; Listed as one of the 100 “Top Young Scientists in the U.S.,” Science Digest, 1984.
Recommended video citation
Lockhart, D. (2025). Dr. Robert J. Sternberg [Includes Reel that was originally posted on Instagram by Dana Lockhart using handle @inquiryassemblage] [Found in The Performance page which is indexed under #storyofeminence]. L’Assemblee pour L’Art et la Recherche.
Dr. Don Ambrose
Author, Speaker and Award-Winning Teacher Seeks Solutions to Longtime Challenges
Dogmatic beliefs can lead to serious consequences – disastrous wars, economic collapse, genocide and authoritarian rule, to name a few. Dr. Don Ambrose, Professor of Graduate Education in the College of Liberal Arts, Education, and Sciences, has published numerous books, including two on dogmatism – How Dogmatic Beliefs Harm Creativity and Higher Level Thinking (with Robert Sternberg) and Confronting Dogmatism in Gifted Education (with Robert Sternberg and Bhararth Sriraman). They include chapters by leading thinkers from multiple academic disciplines. Some collaborators in these projects include psychologists Howard Gardner, Dean Keith Simonton, James Kaufman, Mark Runco and Bob Altemeyer; historian Andrew Bacevich; sociologist Daniel Chirot; legal scholar Meir Dan-Cohen; political philosopher Kristen Renwick Monroe; and educational researcher David C. Berliner.
These books and his other work will be highlighted on the Routledge Education Arena Expert Panel website throughout 2014. Each year, Routledge selects a few scholars to feature in this way. This work has led to invitations for Ambrose to speak at academic conferences around the world. Recently, he presented keynotes in Dubai; Istanbul; Jerusalem; Ulm, Germany; and Winnipeg, Canada; and he will be doing another in Kraków, Poland. His appearances at these conferences illustrate the recognition he has as a leader of interdisciplinary scholarly work and as the editor of the Roeper Review, a leading journal in gifted education.
This past fall, Ambrose also received Rider’s Frank N. Elliot Award for faculty in recognition of his outstanding work at the University. Ambrose views this scholarship as a way to generate positive change and dialogue among disciplines that otherwise operate in silos. “It’s hard to understand any of the big issues without looking at them from an interdisciplinary perspective. Dogmatism pervades everything: academia, the newsroom, politics, our personal lives. When we start to exchange ideas, we begin to create solutions.”
Music
Sierra Ferrell. (2025). “Years,” Something borrowed, something new: A tribute to John Anderson. Easy Eye Sound.
Recommended video citation
Lockhart, D. (2025). Dr. Don Ambrose [Includes Reel that was originally posted on Instagram by Dana Lockhart using handle @inquiryassemblage] [Found in The Performance page which is indexed under #storyofeminence]. L’Assemblee pour L’Art et la Recherche.
Dogmatic beliefs can lead to serious consequences – disastrous wars, economic collapse, genocide and authoritarian rule, to name a few. Dr. Don Ambrose, Professor of Graduate Education in the College of Liberal Arts, Education, and Sciences, has published numerous books, including two on dogmatism – How Dogmatic Beliefs Harm Creativity and Higher Level Thinking (with Robert Sternberg) and Confronting Dogmatism in Gifted Education (with Robert Sternberg and Bhararth Sriraman). They include chapters by leading thinkers from multiple academic disciplines. Some collaborators in these projects include psychologists Howard Gardner, Dean Keith Simonton, James Kaufman, Mark Runco and Bob Altemeyer; historian Andrew Bacevich; sociologist Daniel Chirot; legal scholar Meir Dan-Cohen; political philosopher Kristen Renwick Monroe; and educational researcher David C. Berliner.
These books and his other work will be highlighted on the Routledge Education Arena Expert Panel website throughout 2014. Each year, Routledge selects a few scholars to feature in this way. This work has led to invitations for Ambrose to speak at academic conferences around the world. Recently, he presented keynotes in Dubai; Istanbul; Jerusalem; Ulm, Germany; and Winnipeg, Canada; and he will be doing another in Kraków, Poland. His appearances at these conferences illustrate the recognition he has as a leader of interdisciplinary scholarly work and as the editor of the Roeper Review, a leading journal in gifted education.
This past fall, Ambrose also received Rider’s Frank N. Elliot Award for faculty in recognition of his outstanding work at the University. Ambrose views this scholarship as a way to generate positive change and dialogue among disciplines that otherwise operate in silos. “It’s hard to understand any of the big issues without looking at them from an interdisciplinary perspective. Dogmatism pervades everything: academia, the newsroom, politics, our personal lives. When we start to exchange ideas, we begin to create solutions.”
Music
Sierra Ferrell. (2025). “Years,” Something borrowed, something new: A tribute to John Anderson. Easy Eye Sound.
Recommended video citation
Lockhart, D. (2025). Dr. Don Ambrose [Includes Reel that was originally posted on Instagram by Dana Lockhart using handle @inquiryassemblage] [Found in The Performance page which is indexed under #storyofeminence]. L’Assemblee pour L’Art et la Recherche.
Dr. Robert Sternberg & Dr. Don Ambrose
Dr. Sternberg and Dr. Ambrose have collaborated on several edited chapter books and their stories unpredictably overlapped in my interviews. Below are just a few of these collaborative creations.
Ambrose, D., & Sternberg, R. J. (Eds.). (2016). Creative intelligence in the 21st century. SensePublishers.
Ambrose, D., & Sternberg, R. J. (Eds.). (2016). Giftedness and talent in the 21st century: Adapting to the turbulence of globalization. SensePublishers.
Sternberg, R. J., & Ambrose, D. (Eds.). (2021). Conceptions of giftedness and talent. Springer International Publishing
Sternberg, R. J., Renzulli, J. S., & Ambrose, D. (2024). The field of giftedness—Past, present, and prospects: Insights from Joseph S. Renzulli and Robert J. Sternberg, Roeper Review, 46(3), 233245.
Music
Gossip. (2009). “Heavy Cross,” Music for men. Columbia Records.
Recommended video citation
Lockhart, D. (2025). Dr. Robert Sternberg & Dr. Don Ambrose [Includes Reel that was originally posted on Instagram by Dana Lockhart using handle @inquiryassemblage] [Found in The Performance page which is indexed under #storyofeminence]. L’Assemblee pour L’Art et la Recherche.
Ambrose, D., & Sternberg, R. J. (Eds.). (2016). Creative intelligence in the 21st century. SensePublishers.
Ambrose, D., & Sternberg, R. J. (Eds.). (2016). Giftedness and talent in the 21st century: Adapting to the turbulence of globalization. SensePublishers.
Sternberg, R. J., & Ambrose, D. (Eds.). (2021). Conceptions of giftedness and talent. Springer International Publishing
Sternberg, R. J., Renzulli, J. S., & Ambrose, D. (2024). The field of giftedness—Past, present, and prospects: Insights from Joseph S. Renzulli and Robert J. Sternberg, Roeper Review, 46(3), 233245.
Music
Gossip. (2009). “Heavy Cross,” Music for men. Columbia Records.
Recommended video citation
Lockhart, D. (2025). Dr. Robert Sternberg & Dr. Don Ambrose [Includes Reel that was originally posted on Instagram by Dana Lockhart using handle @inquiryassemblage] [Found in The Performance page which is indexed under #storyofeminence]. L’Assemblee pour L’Art et la Recherche.
The Excitables -
Dr. Linda Silverman, Dr. Michael Piechowski, Dr. Frank Falk, and Dr. Nancy Miller
Linda Kreger Silverman, Ph.D., is a licensed clinical and counseling psychologist. She directs the Institute for the Study of Advanced Development, and its subsidiary, the Gifted Development Center in Denver, Colorado, which has assessed over 6,500 children in the last 40 years. This is the largest database on the gifted population. She and her colleagues at Gifted Development Center have developed 40 instruments. For 9 years, she served on the faculty of the University of Denver in Counseling Psychology and Gifted Education. She developed a course on Assessment of the Gifted at University of Denver, which was also a short course taught abroad. She has been studying the assessment, psychology, and education of the gifted since 1961 and has written over 300 articles, chapters, and books, including the textbook Counseling the Gifted and Talented, adopted at 50 colleges.
Michael M. Piechowski, Ph.D., received his M.Sc. in plant physiology from Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan, his hometown in Poland. After a year of study in Belgium, he came to the United States, obtaining a Ph.D. in molecular biology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He taught at the University of Alberta, Edmonton, where he met Dr. Kazimierz Dabrowski. They worked together for 8 years. Not interrupting their collaboration, Piechowski returned to the University of Wisconsin to obtain a Ph.D. in counseling psychology. Subsequently, he taught at the University of Illinois, Northwestern University, and Northland College. He is a Senior Fellow of the Institute for Educational Advancement and Professor Emeritus, Northland College, Ashland, Wisconsin, where he introduced an experiential course in transpersonal psychology. His studies of self-actualizing people and moral exemplars led him to the study of emotional and spiritual giftedness. He has taught at the Honors Summer Institute at Ashland University in Ashland, Ohio, and has lectured in New Zealand and Australia. He has been involved for many years with the Yunaska summer camp for highly gifted youth, organized by the Institute for Educational Advancement. Dr. Piechowski has been honored with a Supporting Emotional Needs of the Gifted Lifetime Achievement Award.
Nancy B. Miller, PhD., is a social psychologist and editor of Advanced Development, a journal on adult giftedness. She does research and testing at the Gifted Development Center in Westminster, Colorado. She has taught sociology at the University of Denver and the University of Akron. For many years, she served as Executive Officer of Sociologist for Women in Society. She discovered Dabrowski’s theory as a graduate student and developed a coding system to assess levels of emotional development. She has worked and published with Dr. Linda Silverman and Dr. Frank Falk for over 30 years. Her publications focus on emotional development, gender and giftedness, social support and adjustment to stressful life events, family processes and child outcomes.
R. Frank Falk, Ph.D., was the Director of Research of the Institute for the Study of Advanced Development. Dr. Falk received his Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Minnesota and for many years taught and served as an administrator at both the University of Denver and the University of Akron. He has authored numerous books, monographs, chapters, and peer-reviewed journal articles and delivered frequent presentations at professional meetings including )the annual NAGC conference, Supporting Emotional Needs of the Gifted, and the World Council on Gifted & Talented Children. In 2007-2008, he served as statistical consultant to the NAGC Task Force on a national study of WISC-IV performance of gifted children. He has conducted data analysis for hundreds of publications in all areas of giftedness and continues to assist and provide information to professionals in the field. He is currently collaborating on work identifying the relationship of brain structure to the gifted and associated characteristics with fMRIs. Frank’s narrative is reported posthumously in this story. He was a core member of the Excitables and in the background of every memory.
Music
The Chocolate Watchband. (2018). “Baby blue,” Onion. Tower.
Recommended video citation
Lockhart, D. (2025). The Excitables – Dr. Linda Silverman, Dr. Michael Piechowski, Dr. Frank Falk, and Dr. Nancy Miller [Includes Reel that was originally posted on Instagram by Dana Lockhart using handle @inquiryassemblage] [Found in The Performance page which is indexed under #storyofeminence]. L’Assemblee pour L’Art et la Recherche.
Michael M. Piechowski, Ph.D., received his M.Sc. in plant physiology from Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan, his hometown in Poland. After a year of study in Belgium, he came to the United States, obtaining a Ph.D. in molecular biology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He taught at the University of Alberta, Edmonton, where he met Dr. Kazimierz Dabrowski. They worked together for 8 years. Not interrupting their collaboration, Piechowski returned to the University of Wisconsin to obtain a Ph.D. in counseling psychology. Subsequently, he taught at the University of Illinois, Northwestern University, and Northland College. He is a Senior Fellow of the Institute for Educational Advancement and Professor Emeritus, Northland College, Ashland, Wisconsin, where he introduced an experiential course in transpersonal psychology. His studies of self-actualizing people and moral exemplars led him to the study of emotional and spiritual giftedness. He has taught at the Honors Summer Institute at Ashland University in Ashland, Ohio, and has lectured in New Zealand and Australia. He has been involved for many years with the Yunaska summer camp for highly gifted youth, organized by the Institute for Educational Advancement. Dr. Piechowski has been honored with a Supporting Emotional Needs of the Gifted Lifetime Achievement Award.
Nancy B. Miller, PhD., is a social psychologist and editor of Advanced Development, a journal on adult giftedness. She does research and testing at the Gifted Development Center in Westminster, Colorado. She has taught sociology at the University of Denver and the University of Akron. For many years, she served as Executive Officer of Sociologist for Women in Society. She discovered Dabrowski’s theory as a graduate student and developed a coding system to assess levels of emotional development. She has worked and published with Dr. Linda Silverman and Dr. Frank Falk for over 30 years. Her publications focus on emotional development, gender and giftedness, social support and adjustment to stressful life events, family processes and child outcomes.
R. Frank Falk, Ph.D., was the Director of Research of the Institute for the Study of Advanced Development. Dr. Falk received his Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Minnesota and for many years taught and served as an administrator at both the University of Denver and the University of Akron. He has authored numerous books, monographs, chapters, and peer-reviewed journal articles and delivered frequent presentations at professional meetings including )the annual NAGC conference, Supporting Emotional Needs of the Gifted, and the World Council on Gifted & Talented Children. In 2007-2008, he served as statistical consultant to the NAGC Task Force on a national study of WISC-IV performance of gifted children. He has conducted data analysis for hundreds of publications in all areas of giftedness and continues to assist and provide information to professionals in the field. He is currently collaborating on work identifying the relationship of brain structure to the gifted and associated characteristics with fMRIs. Frank’s narrative is reported posthumously in this story. He was a core member of the Excitables and in the background of every memory.
Music
The Chocolate Watchband. (2018). “Baby blue,” Onion. Tower.
Recommended video citation
Lockhart, D. (2025). The Excitables – Dr. Linda Silverman, Dr. Michael Piechowski, Dr. Frank Falk, and Dr. Nancy Miller [Includes Reel that was originally posted on Instagram by Dana Lockhart using handle @inquiryassemblage] [Found in The Performance page which is indexed under #storyofeminence]. L’Assemblee pour L’Art et la Recherche.
Chapter 5
Conclusions
The following describe the researchers' conclusions of the analysis of the individual stories of eminence.
I have selected only a few of the conclusions to be displayed in this component of my dissertation. These include rejection, an umbrella for anger, shame, and gratitude. Additionally, intellectual connectedness, a component of my reconceptualization of motivation that can be found in the manuscript.
From Lockhart, 2025.
Recommended video citation
Lockhart, D. (2025). Chapter 5 Conclusions [Includes Reel that was originally posted on Instagram by Dana Lockhart using handle @inquiryassemblage] [Found in The Performance page which is indexed under #storyofeminence]. L’Assemblee pour L’Art et la Recherche.
I have selected only a few of the conclusions to be displayed in this component of my dissertation. These include rejection, an umbrella for anger, shame, and gratitude. Additionally, intellectual connectedness, a component of my reconceptualization of motivation that can be found in the manuscript.
From Lockhart, 2025.
Recommended video citation
Lockhart, D. (2025). Chapter 5 Conclusions [Includes Reel that was originally posted on Instagram by Dana Lockhart using handle @inquiryassemblage] [Found in The Performance page which is indexed under #storyofeminence]. L’Assemblee pour L’Art et la Recherche.
Rejection
Failure is a part of achievement. This is visible in the literature and in the stories chosen to tell. In academia, failure is often the rejection of a manuscript from an academic journal (Becher & Trowler, 2001). The peer-review process used to determine the fate of an article is unique in that scholars are both critics and criticized. Peer reviewers question the logic and at times the ability of the author. At the same time, the author may question the motives of colleagues and highlight areas for potential bias. Although this is the case, the peer review process is necessary and how scholars maintain their field. Shaw (1997) highlighted this, referring to the peer-review process as providing the necessary “feedback loop” (p. 246) that strengthens scholars’ ideas. The emotions incited by these decisions can include anger, shame, joy, and pride, which have been explored in the literature (e.g., Anderson, 2011; Barbalet, 2002; Cicchetti et al., 1995).
From Lockhart, 2025, pp. 195.
Music
Gogol Bordello. (2007). “Wonderlust king,” Super trental. SideOneDummy Records
Recommended video citation -
Lockhart, D. (2025). Rejection [Includes Reel that was originally posted on Instagram by Dana Lockhart using handle @inquiryassemblage] [Found in The Performance page which is indexed under #storyofeminence]. L’Assemblee pour L’Art et la Recherche.
From Lockhart, 2025, pp. 195.
Music
Gogol Bordello. (2007). “Wonderlust king,” Super trental. SideOneDummy Records
Recommended video citation -
Lockhart, D. (2025). Rejection [Includes Reel that was originally posted on Instagram by Dana Lockhart using handle @inquiryassemblage] [Found in The Performance page which is indexed under #storyofeminence]. L’Assemblee pour L’Art et la Recherche.
Anger and Shame
Emotions are both reactions to one’s environment and factors that bias environmental perceptions (see Fox, 2008). In this way, emotions can act in ways that support motivation while at the same time hinder the striving for success. In academia, anger, shame, and gratitude are often co-existing emotions related to the academic publication process (Shaw, 1997). Lazarus (1991) described anger as an emotion that occurs when one feels as though there has been some sort of demeaning offense against them, which could occur when a manuscript is rejected. A scholar may feel as though they are not allowed to participate and come to feel as though they do not belong (Hagerty et al., 1996). This can lead them to feel further shame, thinking they have failed to live up to the established ideal. Although these experiences occur, rarely are they expressed amongst peers. If they were, one would risk violating the emotional norms of academia. They would be perceived as lacking the psychosocial strength required and become seen as the one most unlikely to succeed. However, without expression the emotions of anger and shame can negatively influence well-being, leading to depression (Ryan & Deci, 2017).
(Lockhart, 2025, pp. 195-196)
Music
The Cure. (2025). “A fragile thing (Âme Remix / Visualiser),” Mixes of a lost world. Polydor Records.
Recommended citation
Lockhart, D. (2025). Anger and Shame [Includes Reel that was originally posted on Instagram by Dana Lockhart using handle @inquiryassemblage] [Found in The Performance page which is indexed under #storyofeminence]. L’Assemblee pour L’Art et la Recherche.
(Lockhart, 2025, pp. 195-196)
Music
The Cure. (2025). “A fragile thing (Âme Remix / Visualiser),” Mixes of a lost world. Polydor Records.
Recommended citation
Lockhart, D. (2025). Anger and Shame [Includes Reel that was originally posted on Instagram by Dana Lockhart using handle @inquiryassemblage] [Found in The Performance page which is indexed under #storyofeminence]. L’Assemblee pour L’Art et la Recherche.
Gratitude
The collaborative relationships in this study created space for scholars to express these emotions. They could experience their anger and be heard. When one feels like they have a voice they are less likely to experience the emotion of shame from rejection. Relationships were also a source of gratitude, which can mitigate the negative emotions of anger and shame. This dynamic was highlighted by Hagstrom (1965), who used the logic of gift-giving peer-review process in academia. As noted, a researcher presents their findings to the field as a gift, and the field accepts. The researcher is recognized for their value, and they feel as though they are contributing to their field. If the gift is denied, however, then feelings change. They have failed and in turn, they experience the related negative emotions. However, if they were to resituate themselves in the gift analogy, they could see that the one thing that is often hoped for when giving a gift is gratitude. Highlighting this, Shaw (1997) argued that feelings of gratitude can counteract the anger and shame of rejection. Gratitude is experienced as a positive emotion (Mayer, 1992; Reisenzein & Spielhofer, 1994) and is a result of some sort of action, meaning scholars can act in some way that induces these emotions in the presence of rejection.
From Lockhart, 2025, p. 196.
Music
Elisapie Isaac. (2023). “Taimangalimaaq (Time After Time)” [Originally recorded by Cyndi Lauper]. Inuktitut. Bonsound; Integral; Yotanka Records.
Recommended video citation
Lockhart, D. (2025). Gratitude [Includes Reel that was originally posted on Instagram by Dana Lockhart using handle @inquiryassemblage] [Found in The Performance page which is indexed under #storyofeminence]. L’Assemblee pour L’Art et la Recherche.
From Lockhart, 2025, p. 196.
Music
Elisapie Isaac. (2023). “Taimangalimaaq (Time After Time)” [Originally recorded by Cyndi Lauper]. Inuktitut. Bonsound; Integral; Yotanka Records.
Recommended video citation
Lockhart, D. (2025). Gratitude [Includes Reel that was originally posted on Instagram by Dana Lockhart using handle @inquiryassemblage] [Found in The Performance page which is indexed under #storyofeminence]. L’Assemblee pour L’Art et la Recherche.
Intellectual Closeness
Hagerty et al. (1996) described connectedness as a state that occurs when actively involved with a person, group, or environment. It is an experience of comfort that is fostered by an innate sense of trust. Extending on this, Stavrova and Luhmann (2016) conceptualized three forms of connectedness in their exploration of life satisfaction. These included intimate (marriage), relational (family), and collective (belonging to a larger community). Researchers were interested in the longitudinal influence of these relationships with findings indicating that, having “a sense of belonging to a larger community is a more important (actually, the only significant) source of meaning in life than close attachments” (p. 5).
From Lockhart, 2025, pp. 193-194.
Music
Future Islands. (2014). “Seasons (Waiting on you),” Singles. 4AD.
Recommended video citation
Lockhart, D. (2025). Intellectual Connectedness [Includes Reel that was originally posted on Instagram by Dana Lockhart using handle @inquiryassemblage] [Found in The Performance page which is indexed under #storyofeminence]. L’Assemblee pour L’Art et la Recherche.
From Lockhart, 2025, pp. 193-194.
Music
Future Islands. (2014). “Seasons (Waiting on you),” Singles. 4AD.
Recommended video citation
Lockhart, D. (2025). Intellectual Connectedness [Includes Reel that was originally posted on Instagram by Dana Lockhart using handle @inquiryassemblage] [Found in The Performance page which is indexed under #storyofeminence]. L’Assemblee pour L’Art et la Recherche.
Chapter 6
Researchers Conclusion
As I bring this dissertation to a close, I would like to address two key components of research: ethics and truth. The multimedia component of my dissertation raises several ethical concerns that warrant attention. I crossed boundaries by not obtaining participants’ approval to create or share these depictions of their stories. Was this an acceptable use of research findings? Was it an interpretation or an extension of those findings? At the same time, how does my multimedia component differ from presenting research at a conference, which is itself a performative act? Is it the audience? The medium? The researcher? While there are many more questions to explore, I will now turn to truth.
Everything we publish is a sliver of experience, and knowledge builds upon knowledge. But can we claim to know something about a phenomenon if we are unable to recognize it as it occurs in the world? I completed this multimedia component publicly and promoted it extensively, sharing my creative process and following Wallas’ stages of creativity—preparation, incubation, illumination, and verification—a process that many creativity researchers have used in their own work. Yet, despite this, I received neither recognition nor support. How does this reflect the current state of awareness within my field, and further, is there space for creativity in the creation of research?
As we move forward, I hope that qualitative researchers and scholars of creativity will engage with me in these discussions and help raise the rigor of the knowledge we contribute to the world.
Music
Made in Heights. (2015). “Ghosts,” Without my enemy what would I do. Sabzi.
Recommended video citation
Lockhart, D. (2025). Chapter 6 Researchers Conclusion [Includes Reel that was originally posted on Instagram by Dana Lockhart using handle @inquiryassemblage] [Found in The Performance page which is indexed under #storyofeminence]. L’Assemblee pour L’Art et la Recherche.
Everything we publish is a sliver of experience, and knowledge builds upon knowledge. But can we claim to know something about a phenomenon if we are unable to recognize it as it occurs in the world? I completed this multimedia component publicly and promoted it extensively, sharing my creative process and following Wallas’ stages of creativity—preparation, incubation, illumination, and verification—a process that many creativity researchers have used in their own work. Yet, despite this, I received neither recognition nor support. How does this reflect the current state of awareness within my field, and further, is there space for creativity in the creation of research?
As we move forward, I hope that qualitative researchers and scholars of creativity will engage with me in these discussions and help raise the rigor of the knowledge we contribute to the world.
Music
Made in Heights. (2015). “Ghosts,” Without my enemy what would I do. Sabzi.
Recommended video citation
Lockhart, D. (2025). Chapter 6 Researchers Conclusion [Includes Reel that was originally posted on Instagram by Dana Lockhart using handle @inquiryassemblage] [Found in The Performance page which is indexed under #storyofeminence]. L’Assemblee pour L’Art et la Recherche.
References
Linked below are all references used in my dissertation, The Story of Eminence: Collaborative Relationships on the Path to Greatness.
Recommended video citation
Lockhart, D. (2025). References [Includes Reel that was originally posted on Instagram by Dana Lockhart using handle @inquiryassemblage] [Found in The Performance page which is indexed under #storyofeminence]. L’Assemblee pour L’Art et la Recherche.
Recommended video citation
Lockhart, D. (2025). References [Includes Reel that was originally posted on Instagram by Dana Lockhart using handle @inquiryassemblage] [Found in The Performance page which is indexed under #storyofeminence]. L’Assemblee pour L’Art et la Recherche.
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