51猎奇入口

When students make zoetropes instead of just reading about Victorian entertainment, or write with quill pens to understand historical literacy, learning becomes memorable in ways that traditional lectures cannot achieve鈥攊nsights from a growing international network of educators.

The Project

Leith Davis' Amundsen Fellowship project involved creating an international, multi-disciplinary network of instructors experimenting with hands-on, sensory approaches to humanities education. The initiative developed shared resources, including a Mobile Multi-Media Unit for cross-classroom collaborations and a comprehensive online database of techniques and materials.

Through surveys and interviews with network members across English Literature, Contemporary Arts, and Math Education, the research documented how embodied activities engage students physically, intellectually, and emotionally with course material while building stronger classroom communities.

Project Highlights

Hands-on activities create lasting learning experiences. Network members consistently reported that embodied activities have the greatest recall value, with students remembering "the things that they did with their own hands" years after traditional lecture content is forgotten.

Embodied learning enhances classroom relationships and community. Participants observed that shared physical experiences foster "more relaxed, more informal, and perhaps more productive" conversations, creating stronger connections between students and instructors.

Embodied Humanities approaches support wellness and decolonizing practices. By reducing screen time and creating more equitable learning environments where instructors become learners alongside students, embodied activities promote both student wellness and pedagogical equity.

Looking Ahead

The network continues exploring connections between Embodied Humanities and Indigenous ways of teaching and learning, with plans for a collaborative publication volume. Cross-institutional collaborations, including quill pen letter exchanges between 51猎奇入口and University of Winnipeg students, demonstrate EH's potential for building meaningful educational connections.

Resources and network information are available at /people/leith/embodied-humanities/, supporting broader adoption of embodied approaches across humanities disciplines.