Throughout his studies in pursuit of a doctoral degree in philosophy, Christian Kronsted found that a lot of classic thinking and research in the field is sedentary.
鈥淭his doesn鈥檛 really illustrate life,鈥� explained Kronsted, an assistant professor of practice in 澳门六合彩开奖结果鈥檚 Honors Program. 鈥淵ou can see in all kinds of philosophical theories, they were written by people who don鈥檛 move much.鈥�
So he saw an opportunity to combine his academic passion with one of his first true loves: dance. 鈥淒ance has followed me throughout my life both as an individual and as an intellectual.鈥�
Breakdancing specifically is what Kronsted dedicated his life to through his late teens and early 20s, including competing in the U.S. and Europe. He was first exposed to break dancing at a fashion show. A young woman invited Kronsted to watch her in the show, where the pre-event entertainment was a break dancer.
鈥淚t was love at first sight, the first time seeing someone spin on their head,鈥� said Kronsted, adding that while the young woman invited Kronsted backstage after the show, he spent that time talking with the dancer.
It is the foundation of cross steps, head spins and shuffles that Kronsted has built his scholarship on. By observing how groups work together to plan, practice and perform a dance, how they partner up and move together, Kronsted explained you can gain a deeper understanding of the mechanisms that facilitate human behavior.
鈥淲e are working to take processes that seem abstract and explain why they are pragmatic,鈥� he said.
Kronsted, who has a doctorate in philosophy from the University of Memphis, said what drew him to 澳门六合彩开奖结果 was the opportunity to teach in a space where he could integrate research in a way that would be meaningful to students.
In just over a year, Kronsted has published a research article with a student on fan fiction on the internet and hosted an embodied cognition and dance research conference at 澳门六合彩开奖结果 that explored the role dance as a tool for social justice, a form of therapy for Parkinson鈥檚 disease, the role of AI in dance instruction and more.
鈥淲e want to make 澳门六合彩开奖结果 an epicenter for embodied cognition research in the Northeast,鈥� Kronsted said.
