Ph.D. Program in Dance
Current Student Research Interests
Robert Bingham holds a B.A. in anthropology/sociology from Wesleyan University, an M.F.A. in dance from SUNY Brockport, and he is a Fulbright Scholar Award recipient (Berlin, summer 2013). His Ph.D. research focuses on counter-normative aesthetics in contemporary dance and performance, with particular emphasis on the context of New York City during the Giuliani era. www.robertbinghamdance.com
Jennifer Conley holds a BA in Integrative Arts from Pennsylvania State University and an MFA in Dance from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. Her dissertation, "Terrestrial Resonance: Exploring Earth through Dance," is an interdisciplinary study examining the interface of geology and dance through choreographic and pedagogical applications. Jennifer is exploring how geologic ways knowing impact her creative process and inspire the development of new approaches to understanding our bodies in motion. Inversely, she is translating these findings into a metaphorical understanding of Earth as a body in motion. During the course of this study, she has staged nine geologically inspired dances and has piloted an undergraduate course on the subject, "Dancing Earth, Dancing Body."
Anna Dodge holds a BA in Dance and English from Hobart and William Smith Colleges and an MA in Dance Education from New York University. Her research interests include dance-music collaboration, pedagogy, and criticism.
Jodi Falk holds a BA in Psychology from Brown University and an MFA in Dance from Temple University. Her research focuses on Dance and Social Justice, Dance and Disability, and Dance as a transformational tool for learning.
Lindsey Grites Weeks holds a B.A. in Dance from Rutgers University and an M.A. in Dance Education from New York University. Her research interests center on the teaching of dance in higher education, including first-year experience for undergraduate dancers, transitions from private studios and K-12 programs into higher education, and applications of college student learning and development theories for the dance classroom. Lindsey is a ballet educator and a member of the Cecchetti Council of America, National Dance Education Organization, Dance New Jersey, and Associated Dance Teachers of New Jersey.
Julie B. Johnson holds a BA degree in Dance with a pedagogy concentration from Marymount Manhattan College, and an MS degree in Nonprofit Management from Milano School of International Affairs, Management, and Urban Policy. She is a dance artist, working and collaborating with various communities in traditional and non-traditional dance settings. She is a founding Artistic Director of Evolve Dance Inc., a nonprofit dance organization; and a co-founder and former Director of the Y Dance Program, a comprehensive dance-training program. Her research is centered on community interaction through choreography, education, performance, and collaboration.
Colleen Hooper is a dancer, choreographer, and writer and she directs Colleen Hooper Performance Projects. Her choreography has been presented since 2002 and New York venues include Dance Theater Workshop's Fresh Tracks series, Danspace Project Out of Space series, and Dance New Amsterdam. After graduating from The George Washington University with a B.A. in Dance and English, she received her Dance M.F.A. from Temple University with a Certificate in Community Arts. She is a Temple University Fellowship recipient and she is researching community arts, cultural studies, and site-specific performance. Conference presentations include the Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association, Dance USA, the Society of Dance History Scholars (SDHS), and a Congress on Research in Dance (CORD) and Society for Ethnomusicology (SEM) Pre-Conference Symposium on Music, Dance and Civic Engagement.
Kirsten Kaschock holds a BA from Yale University, MFAs from the University of Iowa and Syracuse University, and a PhD in Creative Writing from the University of Georgia. Kirsten's scholarly interests include meaning-making in dance, the application of literary theory (especially the work of Julia Kristeva) to dance interpretation, aesthetics, feminist methods of inquiry, and dance as metaphor. Her dissertation is a triadic study of post/modern composition practices and how they come to mean (or to engage/spar with meaning) for their critics, audiences, performers, and creators.
Jeong Sun Park was born and raised in Seoul, Korea and graduated with honors form Ewha Women’s University with a B.A in Dance. She received her M.A. in Dance Education from NYU’s Steinhardt School of Education. She has performed in Korea, Japan, China, Russia, Canada and NYC including 92nd Street Y/ Harkness Dance Center and NYU theaters. Her dance training background includes modern dance, Korean dance and ballet. Before coming to Temple, she taught and designed dance curriculum at New York Korean school. Her research interest focuses on Korean American student’s dance learning experiences in the context of globalization and multicultural dance education in Korea.
Cassandra Pinzon-Hulderman, born in Bogota, Colombia, was raised in Grand Rapids, Michigan. She attended Calvin College, receiving a BS in Recreation Therapy, Minor in Dance (2008). She completed her EdM at Temple University (2011). During her undergraduate education Cassandra studied African dance at The University of Ghana (2007) and performed with the At-Neemrah Dance Company (2008). She is a current recipient of the Calvin College Graduate Study Fellowship and is currently working with Dr. Teresa Benzwie to use creative movement in the dance classroom at Barclay Early Childhood Center. Her research interests include: dance and disability, and biblical studies and dance.
Molly Shanahan holds a B.A. in Dance and English from Denison University, and an M.A. in Dance Composition from The Ohio State University. She is the founder and artistic director of Molly Shanahan/Mad Shak, a contemporary dance company that supports the development of her work, and was on the faculty at Northwestern University's Dance Program prior to deciding to pursue a Ph.D. at Temple. Her research interests are rooted in subjective embodied practice, and include evolving her distinct movement vocabulary within a broader context, and articulating the impact of the witness/witnessed relationship on the performance of her work.
