March 24, 2017 (Jackson, Miss.) - Emily Wright, associate professor and chair of the M.F.A. in dance program, represented Belhaven as one of the William Winter Scholars at the 25th annual Natchez Literacy & Cinema Celebration in February.
Several dozen outstanding humanities division faculty members, students and professionals from Mississippi's universities and colleges were honored as William Winter Scholars.
Wright began her dance training at Dancers' Studio in Knoxville, Tenn. She studied German expressionist and Graham-based modern techniques under the direction of Irena Linn. She has an M.F.A. in Dance with emphasis in choreography and performance from Arizona State University and a Ph.D. in Dance from Texas Woman's University. Her research, which focuses on intersections between dance and religious practice, is published in Fields in Motion: Ethnography is the Worlds of Dance (2011), the Journal of Emerging Dance Scholarship (2013) and the Journal of Dance, Movement, and Spiritualities (2014). She has presented her work at numerous national and international conferences, including the Congress on Research in Dance, the National Dance Education Organization and the World Dance Alliance.
Wright was given the opportunity to nominate an outstanding student to be recognized alongside her, of whom she chose Catherine Hampton. She is a double major in dance and English from Huntsville, Alabama. Hampton performs with the local contemporary dance company, Kinetic Etchings.