Institute of Dance Scholarship

The Institute of Dance Scholarship (IDS) at Temple University aims to foster and enrich dance research for the students and faculty of Temple through engagement with scholars, artists and dance professionals working in the field. Through a range of public events, guest seminars and collaborative research projects, the IDS engenders a critical network for dance studies. There are three main pillars of the institute.

The Reflection:Response Choreographic Commission invites choreographers to consider as a starting point how we "reflect" and "respond" through the experiential body, the choreographic body and the activist body. The commission includes a cash award of $5,000, access to rehearsal space and the production of the new work in Temple’s Conwell Dance Theater.

The Dance Studies Colloquium Series is a dynamic interactive speaker series designed to facilitate a dialogue about emerging topics and issues related to dance. It brings together national and international artists and scholars to explore how we assimilate ideas and events and our resulting actions within the field of dance. Sessions are free and open to the public 3:00-4:30pm in the Temple Performing Arts Center's Chapel of the Four Chaplains (or alternative locations as noted). Each session is included on Boyer's online calendar. Sessions are also livestreamed.

The IDS hosts week-long Scholar in Residence Programs throughout the year. This funded residency provides opportunity for visiting scholars to present and gather feedback on their own research, and to provide mentoring for doctoral faculty and graduate students from the Temple University Dance Department.