Biography and Autobiography: Teaching Strategies for Dance History in a Mediatized World

RAY MILLER Biography and Autobiography: Teaching Strategies for Dance History in a Mediatized World Teaching dance history to the undergraduate "Millennial Student" is challenging on many levels. Due to the proliferation of mediated technologies, critics Sven Birkerts and Martin Berube are concerned that they are loosing the ability to read deeply and to think critically not so much because of the strong visual appeal of these technologies and communication media but because they encourage a voyeuristic view of human interactions that leaves little room for the privacy of the individual. The personal becomes public. There is no room left for the reflective self, the soul. This paper will explore pedagogical strategies centered on biography and autobiography that are intended to shift the student from being passive recipients of dance history to becoming imaginatively engaged in the creation of dance history.