Embodied Teaching and Learning

As AI is capturing the public imagination and promises to pull us further into the vortex of virtually, there is a parallel interest in understanding the uniqueness and value of embodied, situated human thinking and learning.

This reading group invites instructors from all disciplines to explore the role of embodied experience, interactions with our physical environments, and in-person relationships in teaching and learning. Drawing on cognitive science and educational philosophies that emphasize embodied modalities, we will discuss how our bodies, environments and interactions can help us think and learn more deeply and relationally. Each session will include examples of embodied learning practices that can be adapted to your teaching context. Special attention will be given to leveraging nearby greenspaces to support our own and our students’ learning and wellbeing.

Readings will be provided and include chapters from The Extended Mind: The Power of Thinking Outside the Brain, Minding Bodies: How Physical Space, Sensation, and Movement Affect Learning, Stop Talking: Indigenous Ways of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, among others.

Vegetarian lunches will be provided.

Note: The sessions of this learning community are interconnected, so we ask that you register with the expectation of attending all four meetings