Butterflies in My Diaphragm: The Embodied Dimension of Writing a Dissertation

Writing a dissertation may sometimes feel like one is a caterpillar being asked to fly, without having fully developed the organs for the task.

In this workshop, grounded in the conceptual framework of Embodied Critical Thinking (ECT), we will support graduate students in the development of their writing project by harnessing their implicit, embodied ways of knowing, and by learning ways of trusting oneself and supporting each other in the transformative process of idea generation.

The process we introduce may be helpful to navigate a variety of typical writing issues that are part and parcel of the creative process: the inevitable emotional roller coasters that accompany finding one's path in uncharted territory, articulating a profound and personally meaningful research question, getting stuck and unstuck, learning to trust one’s own voice, and cultivating the social support necessary to carry one through.

Participants will work in listening partnerships focused on the embodied process of ideating, assisting one another to articulate what’s most meaningful in their chosen academic quest.

This event is co-sponsored by PhD Plus and the CTE's Tomorrow's Professor Today program.

Workshop facilitators

Ram Eisenberg, Environmental Designer and Landscape Architect, is one of the partners in the Training in Embodied Critical Thinking Initiative. As ​Assistant Professor of Landscape Architecture at the Technion in Haifa, Israel, Ram is a pioneer in introducing methods such as Focusing and Thinking-at-the-Edge in the training of students in landscape architecture and environmental design.

Dorothe Bach, Associate Director and Professor, Center for Teaching Excellence, has recently trained in Embodied Critical Thinking methodologies and is eager to share the method with others. Read her bio.