Dancing With Diversity: Students' Perceptions of Diversity in Postsecondary Dance Programs
Date
2018-08-28
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University of Delaware Library, Museums & Press
Abstract
In response to changing demographics in the United States, there has been a call from dance education scholars to reconsider what a college dance education should include in relation to cultural diversity and the shifting role of dance in contemporary society. Although research about cultural diversity in postsecondary dance major programs exists, it typically does not include students’ perspectives. This chapter contextualizes and analyzes postsecondary dance major students’ perceptions of cultural diversity using a mixed method research design to reveal what is working and what changes still need to occur to more fully embrace cultural diversity in postsecondary dance education. The data analysis concentrates on four interrelated areas: survey respondents’ overall perception of if and how their programs value cultural diversity to better sense the “pulse” of cultural diversity; the titles of their dance history and content of their first creative-focused courses to gather information about if and how cultural diversity is present in both theory and practical courses; the dance courses in which they enrolled to illustrate the diversity of dance forms present in curricula; and their awareness of culturally diverse artists as a means to assess their knowledge of cultural diversity within dance. Because the data indicates that dance programs privilege modern dance and ballet but value cultural diversity, the chapter includes pointed questions for dance educators to consider as they continually refine dance curricula that reflects the cultural diversity of the US.
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Citation
Schupp, K., & McCarthy-Brown, N. (2018). Dancing With Diversity: Students’ Perceptions of Diversity in Postsecondary Dance Programs. Dance: Current Selected Research, 9.