Date of Award:

8-2026

Document Type:

Dissertation

Degree Name:

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department:

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences

Committee Chair(s)

Lisa Lundgren

Committee

Lisa Lundgren

Committee

Jessi Lajos

Committee

Jody Clarke-Midura

Committee

Stephanie R. White

Committee

Kristin Searle

Abstract

Universities bring together people from many different backgrounds, identities, and experiences. Yet university spaces often focus on mind-centered and discussion-based learning and overlook how the body plays a role in education. When education ignores the bodily experience of learning, students lose opportunities to reflect, connect, and make meaningful change in their lives and communities. To address this gap, this dissertation designed and implemented a learning experience for graduate students that creates space from them to examine their own assumptions, engage across differences, and share in inclusive practices. The learning experience draws on and advances cultural humility theory, which understands self-awareness, connection with others, and commitment to change as interconnected dimensions of learning that foster more equitable communities.

This dissertation developed and implemented a Cultural Humility Immersion that included three weeks of online learning materials and concluded with an in-person Cultural Dance Workshop. I explored how students reflected on their learning across the immersion, analyze their bodily movement in the workshop space, and examine the strengths and areas for improvements for future facilitators working at the intersection of culture and movement. The findings show that dance can be a powerful tool for students to make meaning through embodied experience rather than discussion alone. This study reframes how bodily movements shape cultural humility learning and offers guidance for designing learning environment that intentionally connect the mind, body, and space.

Download

Share

COinS

Copyright for this work is retained by the student. If you have any questions regarding the inclusion of this work in the Digital Commons, please email us at .