A+/P Credit Course: Culture in Motion: Teaching NYC Immigration History Through Dance

At a Glance 

Get moving and have FUN this summer as you learn about the history of New York City’s diverse population and rich immigrant cultures through the lens of dance. Experience and practice multiple engagement strategies and write lessons that engage your students through music, dance, cultural studies, and history. Suitable for educators of all grades – and requiring no prior dance experience – this course is inspired by the award-winning exhibitions and programs of the Museum of the City of New York. This multidisciplinary course will provide inspiration for educators across all grade bands, subjects, and student populations.  

• In-person, 3 P Credits - A+ Credits/45 CTLE Hours 
• Monday, August 4 - Saturday, August 9, 2025, 9am-5pm daily 
• $295 Museum Fee; $125 ASPDP Fee 

Course Description 

The course will use five different dance and musical styles as entry points for examining case studies of 20th- and 21st-century immigration and community development in New York City. These five case studies reflect the current top five countries of origin for immigrants in New York City: Dominican Republic, China, Mexico, Jamaica, and Guyana. [Source: 2023 ANNUAL REPORT ON NEW YORK CITY’S IMMIGRANT POPULATION AND INITIATIVES OF THE OFFICE, NYC Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs] Dance culture bearers – themselves with engaging stories to tell of their communities – will connect participants directly to the art form by leading dance lessons.   

Simultaneously, participants will examine how New York City’s unique role as a place of density, diversity, money, and creativity – key themes in the Museum’s collection and exhibits – has influenced the development of each dance culture. Scholars, curators, and museum educators will lead engaging talks, tours, and workshops that illuminate New York’s role as a place of cultural fusion, artistry, and economic power. Conversation will include a discussion of contemporary immigration to NYC, including the influx of new migrants from Central and South America in recent years. Participants will leave with new ways to engage their students, a set of lesson plans they’ve written for their classroom, and a new appreciation for their city and the many communities it holds. 

Developed in alignment with culturally responsive and sustaining education principles (CR-SE), Culture in Motion tells the story of our city through the lens of individual s and dance communities who mirror New York City students today. This course equips educators with the tools to recognize and affirm their students’ intersectional identities by centering and cultivating students’ experiences and expertise. Educators will leave this course understanding the central role culture plays in education and equipped to bring CR-SE principles to their own teaching practice. 

The Museum of the City of New York is a CTLE-certified provider. Participation in this program provides 45 hours of CTLE credit and 3 P Credits/A+ Credits.  

For registration instructions and information about A+/P Credits through ASPDP, please scroll down to Registration below. 

Course Calendar & Details:  

Culture in Motion is an in-person course that runs from Monday, August 4 through Saturday, August 9, 2024. The course takes place at the Museum of the City of New York, located at 1220 Fifth Avenue at 104th Street in Manhattan.  

Schedule: Monday-Saturday, 9am-5pm daily  

A light breakfast of coffee, bagels, and pastries will be provided daily.  

All course materials are provided. A full course schedule will be posted by June 30, 2025. 

Registration:  

Registration for Culture in Motion is a two-step process for those taking the course for A+/P Credit. (Educators interested in taking this course not for A+/P Credit are welcome to do so and only need to complete Step 1.) All eligible educators receive CTLE credit for the course hours. 

Step 1:  

Register with the Museum for Culture in Motion using the "Register" button at the top of this page and pay the Museum's course fee of $295. 

Step 2:  

Register through the ASPDP portal for Culture in Motion: Teaching NYC Immigration History Through Dance and pay the NYC DOE ASPDP course fee of $125. Registration for this course closes at 11:59pm on Sunday, August 3, 2025.

Participant Policies:  

Participants must register for a course with both ASPDP and the Museum of the City of New York (“the Museum”) in order to be eligible to receive A+/P Credits. ASPDP has a strict registration deadline; participants who do not register for ASPDP by the deadline will not be eligible for A+/P credit.   

Participants must follow the attendance requirements as outlined on the ASPDP guidelines. If you have questions or concerns about your attendance, please email us directly to discuss.  

Norms of Behavior 

To maintain a respectful and productive learning environment, all participants are expected to adhere to our professional learning norms of behavior, including active engagement, mutual respect, and open-minded collaboration. We reserve the right to remove any participant whose behavior disrupts the learning experience or violates these norms. 

The Museum follows ASPDP's academic integrity policy for all its A+/P Credit courses. To view ASPDP's academic integrity policy, please click here. 

Need to Cancel? 

The Museum of the City of New York ("the Museum") offers refunds for its educational partner fee for A+/P Credit courses if a participant requests to withdraw from their registered course at least three (3) business days in advance of the registration deadline for that course. 

Participants must contact ASPDP to receive a refund for the ASPDP course fee. To view the policy for ASPDP course fee refunds, please click here.  

If a participant must withdraw from a Museum A+/P Credit course after the first day of the course, the Museum offers participants the value of the course as a credit for future MCNY education programming.