Experiential Anatomy/Kinesiology

For movers, dancers, movement practitioners/artists, dance/movement therapists, teachers, and anyone who wants to deepen their embodiment and understanding of the amazing ways our bodies move. Engaging experiential and somatic modes of learning this course will cover basic human anatomy and kinesiology with an overview of bones, major muscle groups, and general workings of the musculoskeletal system. Students will begin to understand the complexities of the body through movement, reading, drawing, discussion, writing, video, and touch exercises. We will integrate what we learn from tuning into our individual sensed experience, observations of the world (and bodies) around us, and material information from the fields of anatomy and kinesiology. It is important to note that study of “the body,” our bodies, does not exist outside of the particular societies and cultures in which we live. Our work in this course acknowledges the impact and influence of culture on traditions of teaching anatomy, and the importance and relevance of our individual experiences of gender, ethnicity, race, sexual orientation, ability, on lived embodied experience and body knowledge. (not approved for NBCC credits)