Nationally recognized culturally sustaining educator Dr. Nyama McCarthy-Brown is an Associate Professor of Community Engagement through Dance Pedagogy at The Ohio State University and was the university’s first Artist Laureate. Nyama has been an active performer, choreographer, and educator for the past twenty years. Originally from San Francisco, her love for dance developed at her community recreation center and later at the School of the Arts High School. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Spelman College, followed by an MFA in Performance and Choreography from the University of Michigan, and a doctoral degree in Dance Studies from Temple University.

In 2021, Dr. McCarthy-Brown received awards from Dance Teacher Magazine and the National Dance Education Organization for her work developing anti-racist dance curriculum. Nyama teaches Dance Education, Community-Engaged Artmaking, Black Dance Continuum, and Contemporary Dance with Africanist underpinnings, grounded in the celebration of all movers.

Nyama has advanced scholarship in dance education. Her first book, Dance Pedagogy for a Diverse World: Culturally Relevant Teaching in Research, Theory, and Practice, was released in 2017 and quickly became an anchoring text in the field of dance education. The book is deeply informed by her experience teaching dance in public schools, private studios, universities, and community settings. Dr. McCarthy-Brown’s scholarship is interdisciplinary and consistently centers the cultivation of a nuanced understanding of cultural diversity. She has published research in The Journal of African American Studies, Journal of Dance Education, Arts Education Policy Review, Research in Dance Education, Whiteness in Education, and The International Journal of Education and the Arts. Her second book, Skin Colored Pointes: Interviews with Women of Color in Ballet, received the Harry Shaw and Katrina Hazzard-Donald Contribution to African American Popular Culture Book Award in 2025. She is currently developing her third book, which focuses on culturally informed inclusive pedagogies.

Dr. McCarthy-Brown is also an active consultant and workshop facilitator on diversifying dance curriculum for organizations such as the San Francisco Ballet School, Cincinnati Ballet, Enrich Chicago, Dance Educators Coalition (Minnesota), Rutgers University Dance Department, the University at Buffalo, and the Ohio Dance and Dance Education Laboratory.