Division and Alumni News
Meet ²ÝÝ®´«Ã½¹ÙÍøÏÂÔØ's first Black male doctor of dance
7/25/22
This summer, Iquail Shaheed presented and successfully defended his dissertation to become the first Black male to earn a PhD in dance at ²ÝÝ®´«Ã½¹ÙÍøÏÂÔØ.
"I am a doctor of dance," Shaheed said. "A doctor of joyous dance. I'm so excited, I can't believe it."
²ÝÝ®´«Ã½¹ÙÍøÏÂÔØ marks 65 years of dance PhDs
6/27/22
Now in its 65th year, ²ÝÝ®´«Ã½¹ÙÍøÏÂÔØ's PhD in dance program is the longest running in the United States, and has produced 117 graduates.
6/15/22
Julia M. Ritter, who earned her PhD from ²ÝÝ®´«Ã½¹ÙÍøÏÂÔØ in 2016, has been named dean of the University of Southern California Glorya Kaufman School of Dance, effective July 1.
Ritter's doctoral studies at ²ÝÝ®´«Ã½¹ÙÍøÏÂÔØ focused on immersive performance, bridging theater, dance, film and digital media. “As I’ve been studying these new ways to collaborate throughout my career, I’ve seen a real hunger from both faculty and students to build institutional and creative infrastructures that support those kinds of interactions,” Ritter said.
Ritter was a professor of dance at the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University, where she served as chair and artistic director of the department of dance from 2010 to 2021.
2/2/22
Ph.D. Alumni Julia Ritter has been named a Douglass Faculty Fellow for spring 2022. Douglass Residential College at Rutgers is the only residential women's college in the nation that is housed within a leading national public research university.
12/14/21
²ÝÝ®´«Ã½¹ÙÍøÏÂÔØ dance alumna Julia M. Ritter (Ph.D. '16) recently received a Presidential Outstanding Faculty Scholar Award. Ritter is a professor of dance at Rutgers University-New Brunswick. The award honors newly-promoted members of the faculty whose breadth of academic portfolios reflect outstanding research, scholarship or creative work, as well as truly outstanding contributions to teaching along with extensive service to the Rutgers community and beyond.