Conferences I have presented in the following conferences Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ACSD), New Orleans, LA, July 2016 Conference Title: Teaching ExcellenceSession Title: Teaching Dance to Engage Students, Explore Cultures, and Reduce PrejudiceSession Description: Presenters will share the positive effects of using dance in schools as a powerful vehicle for prejudice reduction and cultural exploration, as well as ways to use dance during teacher preparation to differentiate instruction that helps students develop their identities Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning (AEPL), Denver, CO, June 2017 AEPL Conference 2017 Conference Title: Writing as a Way of Staying Human in a Time that Isn't Session Title: Writing as a way of Dancing with Others, and with Life: A Metaphor to Move Us from "The Argument Culture" to a Culture Centered on Active Empathy.Session Description: This workshop was a way to discover whether using the metaphor of dancing as a foundational for future teaching and learning and for the teaching of writing would be an effective tool. This workshop and its results were used in a chapter for the book "Writing as a way of staying human in a time that isn't." Fuad leading a dance circle Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning (AEPL), Denver, CO, June 2019 Conference Title: Every One Has A Voice! Listening, Compassionate Confrontation, and HealingSession Title: Many Voices Become One Through Dance.Session Description: This interactive session offers a practice that allows participants to feel in their bodies that "Everyone is beautiful." We use the idea that dance is about Presence and giving up judgment about oneself and others. When we suspend our need to be right, we suspend our judgments.Only then, the best listening happens and therefore connection prevails. Let's dance! When we dance, genuine listening happens. It helps us build rapport and trust, and connect with the other human being. The spotlight moves to the other person. We tune into their wavelength. We listen from within their frame of reference, not just ours. Kinesthetic empathy at its zenith takes place. Let's dance! Let go of being right, of needing to execute the perfect step/move. Let go of being judgemental about how (un)graceful, clumsy or (un)talented you may see yourself, and surrender to your willingness to be who you are in all of your messed up imperfect glorious humanity. Smile! Make eye contact with your dance partner. And smile again. Let's dance! The Center for Contemplative Mind in Society (CMind), Smith College, Northampton, MA, August 2019 Conference Title: 15th Annual Summer Session on Contemplative Practices in EducationSession Title: Diversity Through Dance: Dance as a Contemplative Practice for AnyoneSession Description: This interactive session, a 45 minute morning contemplative practice, allows one to develop focus as one works with a partner within the context of a larger community, and outside of the classroom. We, the facilitator and the participants, work within this setting to align ourselves in full awareness of the environment around us, including the music and the movement of the group. We can thereby create a safe space in which we sense connection between ourselves, develop self-confidence within our bodies, and feel empathy for all those around us.
