Office of the Provost
and Vice President for Academic Affairs
Office of the Provost
and Vice President for Academic Affairs
Professor of Dance, School of Theatre and Dance
2011 Recipient of the National Dance Association Scholar/Artist Award
Wednesday, September 14, 2011, 6:00 PM
University Center North Ballroom (3rd Floor)
Informal reception to follow
Professor Kaufmann has been spearheading dance integration programs in K-12 schools. This lecture/slideshow will address the successes, challenges and life lessons experienced while advocating for dance in education.
Karen Kaufmann is a professor of dance at The University of Montana. She has worked in the field of dance education for over 30 years, as a teacher, choreographer, performer and author. Professor Kaufmann was recently honored with the 2011 National Dance Association’s Scholar/Artist Award. She serves as the Director for the Creative Pulse, a summer graduate program for teachers in arts education and was invited as an Honorary Research Associate at Massey University in Palmerston North, New Zealand. Professor Kaufmann delivered the keynote address at the National Dance Association; Dance Pedagogy for the 21st Century Conference in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. (2006) and her address was recently published in Focus on Dance Pedagogy: The Evolving Art of Teaching Excellence (2010). She is the author of Inclusive Creative Movement and Dance (Human Kinetics), a textbook for classroom teachers on teaching dance to classrooms with mixed abilities and has published eight journal articles on dance in education. Professor Kaufmann was awarded the 2009 Distinguished Faculty Award by The University of Montana College of Visual and Performing Arts for her work spearheading dance in Montana schools. Her choreography, which integrates dance with the academic curriculum, has been performed throughout the Northwest and Alaska. Professor Kaufmann is a frequent presenter at national conferences in dance education. She has served as a grant reviewer for the Nevada Commission on the Arts. She was awarded The Montana Individual Artist Award (2001) for her lifelong service in dance education, and was awarded The University of Montana Faculty Service Award (2005). Kaufmann’s courses frequently include service-learning experiences and her teaching is known for being inclusive of the greater community.