At Parents as Teachers Annual Conference at Denver
A couple of years ago, as part of the ReadyNation Brain Science Speakers Bureau, I was invited to talk at the Parents as Teachers National Center annual conference.
Using Bharatanatyam and neuroscience, I talked about how the act of taking care of a child, a pet, or a plant is a profound act that fundamentally changes us on a neuronal and societal level. Over the next several weeks, I will present work from that meeting and articulate how caregiving is powerful in its impacts on us as a society!
Using Bharatanatyam and neuroscience, I talked about how the act of taking care of a child, a pet, or a plant is a profound act that fundamentally changes us on a neuronal and societal level. Over the next several weeks, I will present work from that meeting and articulate how caregiving is powerful in its impacts on us as a society!
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One might wonder why use science and dance to think about the world around us. Isn’t one discipline enough? Maybe. But I would say that science and arts together can give us a much richer understanding.
As a scientist, I could count the number of times Pup rolls in the dirt, the time between the rolls, the time spent, standing up and smiling, and the angle at which he rotates. I could chemically analyze the color, shape, and patterns of the flower. But the uninhibited joy Pup is experiencing and the beauty we perceive from the flower are ineffable. This, I believe, is the power of embracing the arts and the sciences as complementary ways of thinking about the world around us. We can think of the arts as a way of generating knowledge distinct from, and complimentary to, the scientific method! |