Raised by This Place is an arts-based research project that explores how theater and embodied storytelling can deepen our connection to land, self, and community. Rooted in the Spirituality Mind Body program at Teachers College, the project began with preschoolers and has since expanded as a flexible framework for learners of all ages.

Drawing from Augusto Boal, Antonin Artaud, and Indigenous stories like Skywoman, the work blends movement, image theatre, and multimodal journaling to awaken presence, ecological awareness, and spiritual imagination. It asks:
What does it mean to be shaped by place—and how can performance help us remember that we belong to it?

The project will also become an artistic and interactive community map.

In Unmoored: Ecopsychology for a Changing World, edited by Susan Bodnar, Chrystal Dunker, and Jean Kayira

This chapter explores the lived experiences of environmental disruption in Brazil’s Paraíba Valley, highlighting the community’s resilience, emotional responses, and spiritual connection to the land. Drawing from personal narrative, ecological context, and embodied research, the piece contributes to an ecopsychological understanding of climate change rooted in place, memory, and belonging.