Diversity Through Dance course connects culture through art

Fuad Elhage, a senior lecturer of Spanish in Franklin College’s Romance languages department, has taught Diversity Through Dance since 2010. The course allows students to spend each class period connecting to the Spanish language and culture through music and dance:

However, for two semesters, the course has been adapted to integrate a service-learning component, giving students the chance to expand their participation beyond the music. Service-learning courses are offered across the university through a partnership with the Office of Service-Learning to enhance learning through the application of academic skills to address a community-identified need.

“I want my students to serve the community,” Elhage said. “So, we’re dancing with the older adults at the Athens Community Council on Aging.”

Once a month, Elhage and his students take their class on the road, partnering with the Athens Community Council on Aging to teach salsa, bachata and merengue to the members. The ACCA is a local nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting wellness through engagement, advocacy, education and support. For more than 50 years, the organization has provided services and community to support older adults in Athens and surrounding communities.

“These classes have been one of the most well attended, most popular and most heartwarming classes that we have hosted in my two and a half years of working here,” said Autumn Barefoot, program manager of the ACCA’s Center for Active Living.

The idea began while Elhage was completing his dissertation in language and literacy education. Drawing from his own experiences using dance to connect with others from different backgrounds and cultures, he conducted research on the ways that dance can be utilized for prejudice reduction and second language acquisition.

With the knowledge gained during this process, he created a cultural unit for middle schoolers, which became foundational for his dissertation.

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Fantastic work connecting campus and community from one of our best.

Image: Faud Elhage leads a dance lesson at the Athens Community Council on Aging. (Photo by Dorothy Kozlowski/UGA)