Embodied Learning in Transdisciplinary Education   
In an increasingly complex and uncertain world, universities prepare students to engage meaningfully with societal challenges. This requires more than disciplinary expertise alone. While transdisciplinary education fosters competencies such as systems thinking, empathy, self-reflection, and epistemic justice. It often prioritises analytical reflection over embodied, emotional, and relational ways of knowing. 

Social Presencing Theater is an arts-based change method which invites students to improve their embodied presence, become more aware of their surroundings, and reflect on their role within social systems. Through movement and non-verbal exercises, it helps make visible underlying dynamics that are often difficult to explore through discussion or reading alone. Engaging the body as a source of knowledge fosters intuition, empathy, and perspective-taking – key competences for addressing complex societal challenges.  
 
Objectives of the Body as Teacher project 
The project aims to integrate, evaluate, and sustainably embed embodied learning practices based on Social Presencing Theater into the course Interdisciplinary Community Service Learning 2 : Addressing Challenges Through Transdisciplinary Research (iCSL2) at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. Through learning activities and assessments that are aligned with the course objectives, the aim is to improve students’ embodied presence and strengthen their capacity to engage with complexity, collaboration, positionality, and multi-actor dynamics. 

Approach  
The project follows a four-phase, co-creative approach: 

1. Review and align: Review and align the course’s learning outcomes and assessment methods. 
2. Co-design and pilot: Develop and pilot embodied learning activities based on Social Presencing Theater in collaboration with students and experts. 
3. Implement and refine: Integrate the activities into the iCSL2 course and refine them iteratively based on experience and feedback. 
4. Evaluate and embed: Evaluate the outcomes, embed the practices in the curriculum, and share lessons learned. 

Athena’s role 
At the Athena Institute, we believe that addressing today’s societal challenges requires more than incremental change and established ways of working. It calls for educating responsible and reflective change-makers who can deal with discomfort, navigate uncertainty, and work with complex systems that need transforming.  

With this project we aim to develop educational approaches that better prepare students to navigate the complexities of society. Together with colleagues from the Centre for Teaching and Learning (CTL), the Faculty of Social Sciences (FSW), former and prospective students of the iCSL 2 course, and Social Presencing Theater experts, we work towards this goal by integrating embodied dimensions of learning into education, and enabling students to develop a more holistic form of intelligence that goes beyond analytical thinking alone. 

Lessons and outcomes 
By integrating exercises based on Social Presencing Theater into the iCSL2  course, students engage bodily, emotionally, and cognitively with complex societal challenges. This holistic approach aims to deepen their understanding of complexity, reflexivity, and integrative thinking, complementing more analytical forms of learning. 

1. Student-level outcomes:  
   Students are expected to improve their embodied presence, openness to uncertainty, empathic sensitivity, and creative engagement with societal challenges. In addition, the project aims to improve students’ competencies in systems thinking, perspective-taking, holistic understanding, and integrating bodily awareness with cognitive reasoning.
2. Course-level outcomes:  
   The project will deliver a coherent, structured set of Social Presencing Theater exercises tailored to the course, supported by materials for students and teaching staff. These resources will provide guidance on: 

• Gradually introducing students to embodied practices 
• Sequencing exercises intentionally to support learning 
• Connecting embodied practices with course concepts

1. Project-level outcomes:
   Educational resources that can be adapted and used in other contexts will be produced. These include: 

• A Social Presencing Theater activity package for the course, comprising exercise descriptions, teaching manuals, materials for students, a refined assessment framework that incorporates embodied learning, and guidance on how to structure activities to support students’ gradual engagement. 
• An implementation report outlining the rationale behind the approach, the sequencing of activities, and how the practices can be adapted to different contexts.