A couple years ago I was speaking with a tenure-track professor in Kinesiology at another institution, telling her how excited I was about conducting qualitative research about aesthetic competence. “Can I give you a piece of advice?” she said. Oh boy. No, but, “Of course!” I said. “Don’t do qualitative research.” The professor went on to explain that qualitative research…

Author’s Note: The purpose of this photo essay is to discuss the philosophical assumptions surrounding potential qualitative research methodologies that might be utilized to describe aesthetic competence and dance performance. It is a culmination of earlier work developed during my time in Dublin, Ireland while participating in a five-week study abroad program in collaboration with the University of Illinois at Chicago…

This post could be subtitled “What I did on my summer vacation…” During a five week study abroad program in collaboration with the University of Illinois at Chicago and University College Dublin, during the summer of 2015, I had the pleasure of working with two undergraduate students on a qualitative research project related to sports psychology and dance. What we…

I’ve been keeping my eye on Dr. David Marquez, who keeps his office across campus from me at UIC. Marquez is conducting some interesting research on the effects of Latin cultural dance programs for older adults. Our backgrounds and our work are as different as peanut butter and cats, but on this we agree: there is little research out there about…