Monday, June 30, 2014
Yale Offers A Course That's Cross-Listed Between Physics & Theatre Arts
space.io9.com: "The Physics of Dance" is run by Sarah Demers from the physics department, and Emily Coates from theatre arts. It's an introduction to physics and dance, classical and modern. It takes interdisciplinary studies and bumps it up a notch, not just teaching how physics can be used to analyze dance, or using dance to explore a science concept as in Dance Your PhD, but fully integrating a curriculum of both disciplines.
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2 comments:
This is great. As a math geek and a technical theatre fanatic I often pick up on both the similarities between the two and on how the two entities could be utilized together. My calculus class has been the greatest teacher on how to calculate the beam angle of a light-without a calculator.
One of the course instructors featured in the article spoke on how their course was breaking down some pre conceived notions about the fields, and I think every school could use this method in some way. It seems some departments such as physics and calculus so set on disregarding art forms and vice versa, assuming that the two have nothing in common. And that’s just wrong. Collaboration and problem solving are just two examples of themes that are prevalent in both subjects.
It will be very interesting to see how other schools and other theatre facilities embark on this new, conjoined path. It could lead to huge innovations for both parties.
As someone who is both scientifically minded and artistic, I often felt like people have viewed those two traits as contradictions. There is this idea that some people are left brained and some people are right brained, but this class shows that there is not an uncrossable line.
I love how a class like this could help many different students. It would be a dream class for dancers who are also math nerds, but there are so many more people who could benefit. Dance students who need to take a math class but don’t like math can use this class to put mathematics into a context they love. Mathematically minded students who want to learn dance would be able to learn it more easily if it is explained in the way they like to think. This class would even help students who aren’t passionate about math or dance, but want a break from a standard classroom setting and a chance to be a bit more active. I hope intersubject classes become more common, after all, this class works for many students because it is integrated.
@Jasmine Lesane: I like what you said about different departments having preconceived notions about other fields. It isn’t unheard of for departments to have skewed views of each other, even though overlap students exist. Classes like this could help decrease barriers between departments and, in turn, increase overall respect for difference.
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