Main description:

Academics using embodied approaches can be found across a wide variety of disciplines, fields and settings in the academy. Embodiment is however, a contested term and the literature is fragmented, particularly in the field of Higher Education. This has resulted in isolated silos of work that are not easily able to draw on previous or related knowledge in order to support and progress understanding. Embodiment in Higher Education brings a cohesive understanding to congruent approaches by drawing on discussions between academic teachers, researchers and practitioners in order to explore how they have used embodiment in their work. Contributors to the volume hail from diverse subject areas, such as dance, drama, psychology, anthropology, physical education, philosophy and higher education research.
Chapters question whether there is enough of a shared understanding of embodiment to inform Higher Education; whether an embodied approach can be accepted within the measured university; where difficulties and challenges lie in using embodied approaches for teaching, for research, in constructing an academic practice and identity; and how difficulties surrounding communication might be overcome. This book will appeal to academics, researchers and postgraduate students from a diverse range of disciplinary areas, as evidenced by the backgrounds of the contributors. It will be of particular interest to those in the fields of education, anthropology, dance and drama, well as other movement or body-orientated professionals who are interested in the ideas of embodiment.

Contents:

Introduction Jennifer Leigh 1. Finding the dance in the everyday: A flesh and bones approach to qualitative research Kimber Andrews 2. Understanding physical activity: Relational and embodied perspectives on the development of human capital through movement Richard Bailey 3. From cinema to the body Paul Bowman 4. Embodied compasses in teaching in higher education Liora Bresler 5. Congruency: An embodied approach in a cognitive discipline Jennifer Leigh 6. The body and technology Robb Lingdren 7. Developing embodied identity in dance Angela Pickard 8. Embodied reflexivity: Transformative teaching practice in visual anthropology Mike Poltorak 9. Body of knowledge: Improvisation as embodied research Nisha Sajnani 10. Between the sheets: passion, playfulness and seriousness in embodied teaching Adrian Skilbeck 11. Emptied Spaces: Theatre laboratories in the University Ben Spatz 12. Researching embodied sport and movement cultures: Theoretical and methodological considerations Paul Standish and Catherine Herring 13. Researching embodied sport and movement cultures: Theoretical and methodological considerations Ian Wellard 14. Conclusion Jennifer Leigh