BFA students add minors alongside dance training
September 29, 2020

By Brigid Murphy / USC Glorya Kaufman School of Dance

Bella Allen (BFA ’22) took advantage of the abundant academic offerings at USC and chose to pursue a minor in Occupational Science within the USC Chan Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy. Originally, she planned to minor in Neuroscience. After trying out the occupational science class “The Creative Workshop” recommended by her roommate, Allen decided to declare the minor.

“The goal of an occupational therapist is to help their patient be able to occupy all the spaces necessary to live a fulfilling life,” Allen said. “It’s about personalizing whatever form of treatment or path the OT is taking with their patient. For example, treating people with disabilities or disadvantages, it’s not about looking at it as a disability but rather finding another way to do something.”

Allen was attracted to the minor because of its connection to her USC Kaufman training. She described dance as the perfect method for finding new ways and approaches to movement, which goes along with the mission of occupational therapy.

“My whole journey with training has been about finding a new perspective, like a new approach to doing a tendu or to figuring out a compositional piece,” Allen said. “I’m interested in furthering my knowledge of fields like dance movement therapy. I want to use dance as a mode of therapy for people through an occupational science lens.”

Read the full article at USC Glorya Kaufman School of Dance.

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