The Arts, Health, and Society Division Newsletter – May 2026

From the opening session, participants were invited into a deeply experiential process. Through the sharing of meaningful personal objects, reflective journaling, and collaborative exercises, the seminar established a space where lived experience took precedence over abstract analysis. Foundational phenomenological concepts such as intentionality, epoche, embodiment, and the life-world were introduced not merely as theories, but as practices of attention and awareness.

A central thread throughout the series was the understanding of the body as fundamental to perception, learning, creativity, and relationship. In one session, participants engaged in sensory awareness exercises designed to heighten perception and reconnect with the immediacy of lived experience. Discussions drew on the work of Maurice Merleau-Ponty, particularly his distinction between the “lived body” and the purely physical body, emphasizing how our experiences are always shaped by emotional, social, cultural, and relational dimensions.

Guest lecturer Dr. Thomas Fuchs deepened this inquiry through his presentation on embodied learning. He challenged contemporary educational models that reduce cognition to information processing, arguing instead that learning emerges through movement, relational resonance, imagination, and shared presence. Participants reflected on the increasing disembodiment associated with digital culture and explored ways to cultivate more relational, grounded, and community-oriented forms of learning and practice.

The seminar also highlighted phenomenology as a research methodology rooted in lived experience. Participants explored descriptive, hermeneutic, and existential-relational approaches to inquiry while engaging in reflective writing, bodily awareness exercises, and arts-based exploration. Emphasis was placed on transparency, reflexivity, and the understanding that the researcher’s own embodied presence inevitably shapes the inquiry itself.

The seminar also extended phenomenological and arts-based inquiry into broader social contexts. Dr. Lynn Ditchfield’s session on Arts-Based Creativity and social change explored themes of immigration, social justice, community building, and collective healing. Through visual analysis, poetry, and experiential exercises, participants considered how creative practice can foster empathy, solidarity, and transformative social engagement.

The final session offered an inspiring culmination of the journey. Participants shared deeply personal and creative presentations—including poetry, video works, reflective writing, movement, collage, and performance—demonstrating how phenomenology and embodiment had become integrated into their professional identities, artistic practices, and ways of relating to the world. Themes of belonging, memory, transformation, nature, and relational presence resonated throughout the presentations and closing discussions.

Across all eight sessions, several key insights emerged repeatedly: phenomenology is not simply a philosophy to study, but a practice of attending to lived experience; embodiment is foundational to learning, therapy, creativity, and human connection; and authentic relational presence holds transformative potential in both personal and collective contexts. Participants left the seminar with renewed appreciation for reflective practice, expressive inquiry, and the importance of cultivating spaces where people can encounter themselves and one another more fully and authentically.

The seminar series concluded not as an ending, but as the beginning of an ongoing community of inquiry and collaboration—one grounded in embodiment, creativity, and shared human experience.

October 22nd – 31st, 2026

REGISTRATION OPEN

For those working in the intersection of conflict and the arts, it is imperative that we acquire knowledge about how the arts can enhance identity, safety and resilience in communities.  This course will explore the different schools within the fields of conflict, as well as highlight various arts-based peacebuilding methods and community engagement techniques.

If you wish to learn more, please click below. If you are interested in joining our email list, please email administration@egs.edu.

With our work we respond to the world not as something already given or fixed, but as an unfinished system where hope acts as a restorative force against rigid structures and the loss of resonance.

In our current global context, we see hope not as a passive wish, but as an active strategy and an ethical practice of being in the world. We are interested in the tension between the visionary not-yet-become (Bloch) and the creation of walkable pathways (Snyder) to navigate our shared reality.

Tune in to the EGS Arts, Health & Society Podcast!

Did you know we are gradually releasing our new podcast series?

The AHS Podcast is your ongoing connection to the EGS community. Right now, we are celebrating our 30th Anniversary with a special series of conversations featuring our pioneer faculty. As we continue to roll out new episodes, you will hear fresh dialogues diving deep into the latest developments, theories, and practices in the Expressive Arts.

Don’t miss out on these inspiring dialogues. Subscribe today on Spotify or Apple Podcasts to get notified whenever a new episode drops!

We can’t wait to welcome you and build a thriving EGS Alumni Community together. Reach out today and take the first step towards reconnecting with your alma mater and fellow graduates!