Dr. Nyama McCarthy-Brown is an Associate Professor of Dance Pedagogy through Community Engagement, at The Ohio State University. Native of San Francisco, Nyama has been an active performer, choreographer, and educator for over fifteen years. In 2021, she was awarded Outstanding Dance Educator of the Year – Higher Education, from the National Dance Education Organization and The Distinguished Dance Educator Award from Dance Teacher Magazine. She is also an established scholar, with articles in numerous academic publications including: Journal of Dance Education, Arts Education Policy Review, and The Journal of African American Studies; and chapters in Dance: Current Selected Research, and The Arts as White Property: An Introduction to Race, Racism, and Arts in Education.
Move to Learn: Leveraging brain-body connections to increase academic performance
Intellectual and somatic ways of knowing are intertwined, how can we leverage this connection to impact more significant learning?
Many students today spend much of their time in a screen-dominant world. Our society’s heightened reliance on technology has caused many to become increasingly disembodied, and to mistrust one’s own senses. As a result, many are less attuned to their bodies than previous generations, which impacts overall wellness. Seriously, when was the last time you went somewhere unfamiliar without directions on your phone? Or checked the sun to see what time it is?
This keynote workshop-presentation will explain, through demonstration, how learning and student engagement can be driven through the body. Through the use of embodied responses to questions and embodied narratives, participant-attendees will consider how minor tweaks to lesson plans can be adjusted to center mind-body connections. These shifts in teaching approach enhance learning and student engagement and can also uplift whole-body wellness.
Pedagogy Matters 