Shiv Nadkarni

University of Roehampton Postgraduate Award, University of Roehampton - Anthropology

I graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 2019 with a B.A. in Biological Basis of Behaviour (Neuroscience) and a minor in Chemistry. I have also trained in Indian classical dance for 16 years and have earned my bachelor’s degree (Vishaarad level) in Kathak from the Samved Conservatory of Indian Classical Music and Dance. My passions in medicine and dance have conflicted many times so I was relieved when I discovered medical humanities and narrative medicine, fields which blur the line between the art and science. Producing podcasts for Doctors Who Create and choreographing dance to illness narratives has shown me the unique ways in which the arts can inform and enrich medicine. Coordinating a dance therapy intervention program at the American Autism Association last summer cemented my interest in pursuing this creative, untapped space and I hope to continue this quest abroad. With my Fulbright award, I will be studying dance anthropology at the University of Roehampton considering the larger historical context of dance which I can use to inform my career in medicine by helping me frame disease and illness in the same context of humanity. I hope to spend my free time in London volunteering at a paediatric clinic and exploring the cultural melting pot of the city through the performing arts.