Dance Professor Wins Woodward Faculty Research Award

Assistant Professor of Dance Kaustavi Sarkar has received the James H. Woodward Faculty Research Award . The James H. Woodward Faculty Research Award was established in 2021 and is awarded annually to an untenured faculty member who has been reappointed to a tenure-track position. Sarkar is the second faculty member to receive the award.

“By recognizing a promising program of research, scholarship, or creative practice, the award supports the career development of junior faculty in tenure-track positions by facilitating their development and growth as educators and scholars,” wrote Provost Alicia Bertone in the award letter.

Sarkar will receive a one-time award of $2,500 in discretionary funds that may be used to support research development including, but not limited to travel, publications, research expenses and conference participation. She plans to use the funds to augment a grant she received earlier this year from the National Endowment for the Arts for her project, “ShilpaNatyam: Creating a New Vocabulary in Indian Dance.”

“I will use this award for primarily paying artists’ fees, studio costs for rehearsal, and covering travel expenses,” said Sarkar. “I will work with New York City-based choreographer Maya Kulkarni. I will also work with former Martha Graham Company principal dancer Blakeley White-McGuire and the Bharatnatyam artist and practice-as-research scholar Dr. Deepa Mahadevan.”

Sarkar plans to present this work in the Faculty Dance Concert next year.