Sarah Lawrence College

Undergraduate Academics

Dance History

Academics
Undergraduate Humanities
Dance History Faculty Explore courses from other years
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The dance history discipline at Sarah Lawrence provides opportunities for students to examine critical aspects of dance as a separate, credit-bearing seminar or lecture course rather than a component within a performing-arts study. Encompassing political, cultural, creative, and embodied practices at the intersection of the arts, humanities, and social sciences, these courses serve as hubs for interdisciplinary inquiry. All courses within the dance history discipline are open to the entire College community. No previous knowledge of dance is required.

Dance History 2026-2027 Courses

  • Open, Seminar—Year | 10 credits

    DNHS 3124

    How can movement inform critical analysis? What can dancing teach us about the workings of our world? In this seminar, we will begin with an extended reading/exploration of Alice Walker’s collection of poems, Hard Times Require Furious Dancing (2010) as entry into the multiple layers of meaning and complexity that movement can convey, pointing to the ways in which we move and are moved as individuals and as collectives. Readings from fields including dance, performance, literary criticism, feminism, science fiction, cultural studies, ethno-ecology, and activism, as well as examples of live and recorded performance events (formal and informal) will serve as inspiration for seeing, thinking, conversing and writing throughout the year. Students’ multiple histories and perspectives will illuminate vigorous examination of these materials. Class activities will include reading, writing, discussion, presentation, and accessible movement practices, as well as viewing art and film images. Assignments will build upon class activities, with opportunities to work with partners and small groups. For yearlong conference projects, supported through biweekly individual conferences, each student will develop one or more substantive lines of inquiry connected to our subject matter. Conference projects may draw upon various disciplines, including those within humanities and creative arts. The aim of this course is to expand our recognition of movement and dancing as essential aspects of existence, and to sharpen our use of the unique theoretical potentials inherent in this study to enliven adjacent studies as well.

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