Join the Center for Diabetes Translation Research – Solutions to Diabetes in Black Americans Core for a webinar on Thursday, June 23rd from 12-1 PM ET
African Diaspora Dance in Public Health: Embodied Health Practices, Embracing Health Justice, Empowering Our Community
Thursday, June 23rd from 12-1 PM ET
To register, click here.
Presenter: Sheila A. Ward, PhD, MPH, FACSM
Affiliation: Norfolk State University
Webinar Description: This webinar will discuss how African Diaspora dance may be engaged to empower Black people towards health empowerment.
African diaspora dance in public health and health care is positioned to have far-reaching implications as a tool towards achieving health equity. This webinar will present African diaspora dance as a cultural determinant of health and discuss the role of African diaspora dancers as cultural bearers and trusted messengers for health promotion in theBlack community.
Presenter Bio: Dr. Sheila A. Ward is an African Diaspora dance practitioner, scholar, and educator. She is a tenured Professor at Norfolk State University, Project Director of the NSU Health and Wellness Initiative for Women, Co-Director of and professional dancer with Eleone Dance Theatre of Philadelphia, PA, a licensed PreK-12 Virginia Educator with endorsements in Dance Arts, Health and Physical Education, and Health and Medical Sciences, and a Registered Kinesiotherapist. Integration of her degrees in exercise physiology, epidemiology/public health, and dance serves as her foundation to promote, ‘Health Empowerment through Cultural Awareness,’ the guiding principle from which she conducts scholarly and community activities related to chronic disease prevention and management and African Diaspora dance for health and wellness. She is a Fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine, a Virginia Commission for the Arts Teaching Dance Artist, and Certified Instructors for Kariamu Welsh’s Umfundalai African Dance Technique and the Katherine Dunham Technique (IDTC).