Mitra Emad comes to the Associate Dean role as an interdisciplinary cultural anthropologist who has helped build programs and create connections among students, faculty, and staff that facilitate and engage innovative solutions and approaches. During her time at UMD, Dr. Emad established a Cultural Studies program within the Anthropology, Sociology, & Criminology department (now the department of Studies in Justice, Culture, & Social Change), founded a campus Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning, and co-founded a departmental Participatory Media lab to support students’ engagement with community-based research. She has also worked with collegiate faculty to bring forward a robust new Master in Professional Studies program. The MPS program focuses on Multidisciplinary Research & Creativity.Â
Dr. Emad teaches and writes about cultural constructions of the human body, especially in terms of how the body functions as a site for cultural translation and trauma resolution. She is also an established somatic educator, yoga teacher, and yoga therapist. In 2018, Dr. Emad received the Horace T. Morse University of Minnesota Alumni Association Award for Outstanding Contributions to Undergraduate Education