About Barbara Gail Montero
New York, New York
Barbara Gail Montero (CBA ’20) is Professor of Philosophy at the City University of New York Graduate Center and the College of Staten Island. She has been awarded research fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the American Council of Learned Societies, and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Her research focuses on one or the other of two different notions of body: body as the physical or material basis of everything, and body as the moving, breathing, flesh and blood instrument that we use when we run, walk, or dance. Before entering academia, she was a professional ballet dancer.
Dance as Embodied Aesthetics
How should we understand the “kinesthetic appeal” of movement? Philosophers have traditionally confined the aesthetic realm to the visual and aural: beauty may be seen, but it can’t be felt. However, during her time at CBA, Montero aimed to provide a philosophical grounding for the kinesthetic experience and appeal of dance, and she investigated the relevance of such experiences for athletes.
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