Embodied making and learning through research on own practice

The Body Based Practices PhD Course was held at Notodden campus again 11-14 of April, with both national and international student researching their practices from an embodied perspective. The 7,5 ECT course is offered by the Culture studies doctoral program and runs once a year, in the spring semester. The course is constructed of both theoretical lectures and practical tryouts in which the students could reflect on their own research questions and practices.

In the Body-based Practices course thinking and learning are viewed as embodied practices, and the course content builds on the tradition of phenomenology, including new research and theory from the area of Embodied Cognition that is now influencing the learning sciences and practice research in multiple disciplines. As this theoretical frame situates cognition in sensory experiences, materially and socially mediated human-environment interaction it especially relevant in aesthetic and creative practices, sports, performance, and theater as well as in music making and singing or transfer of traditional skills and practices.

In the course the students are introduced to the theoretical frame and the different backgrounds of embodied cognition theory that are then exemplified through different practices – connecting it to body-based knowledge and sense making in multiple disciplines that share the same issues in research and practice. The participants try out different aspects of body-based practices in physical workshops and discuss these experiences from their own situated perspectives. As a result of the reading, lectures and exercises and discussions in this course the students write an academic text /conference paper to a selected conference, thus their efforts may be directly connected to a research output that counts towards their general studies.

The course lectures are open to the institute’s other researchers, students and lecturers. This year the lectures and workshops where the following:

Tuesday 11 April

11:15-12:00 Lecture: Embodied cognition: Camilla Groth in ROOM F-257C (lille auditoriet)

13:00-15:00 Practical Workshop: Kite making and flying as human-environment coupling with Kari Carlsen

15:15 – 16:00 Group discussions and reflections on own practice

Wednesday 12 April

9:15-10:00 Lecture: Body-based practices and epistemology: Mikkel Tin

10:15 – 12:00 Lecture: Phenomenological perspectives: Mikkel Tin

13:00-15:00 Practical Workshop: Embodied making and learning through tree knitting with Marte S. Gulliksen

15:15 – 16:00 Group discussions and reflections on own practice

Thursday 13 April

9:15-10:00 Lecture: Theorizing bodily experience – A phenomenological Approach: Gunn Engelsrud

10:15 – 12:00: Lecture on Drama/Dance: Anette Torgersen

13:00-15:00 Practical Workshop: Physical activities (Drama/dance) guided by Anette Torgersen

15:15 – 16:00 Group discussions and reflections on own practice

19:00 – 21:00 Evening activity: Sauna and lake swimming for those who want to join

Friday 14 April

9:15 -10:00 Lecture: Body-based research methods: Camilla Groth, Ann-Hege Lorvik Waterhouse

10:15 – 12:00: Lecture: Introduction to micro phenomenological methods and the workshop by Michael Kimmel

13:00-15:00 Practical Workshop: Practicing micro phenomenological research with Michael Kimmel

15:15 – 16:00 Group discussions and reflections on own practice