McWhorter, BrianMockli, ShannonMossberg, BarbaraMcClure, Ivy2021-07-272021-07-272021https://hdl.handle.net/1794/2654360 pagesThis thesis explores the idea that, if used intentionally, music can be an effective tool for self-empowerment. Building off an understanding of empowerment as a dynamic, nuanced and inherently personal experience, I investigate the topic of music as empowering through a phenomenological lens, offering up my own stories and experiences. Through my own experience, I show an example of how music is empowering so that readers might empathize and reflect on their own relationship to music. I also aim to describe experiences I may have in common with readers in relation to music, in hopes of identifying elements of collective experience that give us agency to use music more intentionally in each of our lives. This thesis is creative and unique in its personal and emotionally charged quality, and that is purposeful; music is inherently creative, emotional and personal. This thesis accepts this truth and aims to give a voice and language to these strong feelings of connection to music that many of us feel.en-USCC BY-NC-ND 4.0musicempowermentself-inquiryawarenessThesis/Dissertation0000-0002-6097-4419