May 19, 2022

Dr. Susan Hrach’s book Minding Bodies: how physical space, sensation, and movement affect learning (WVU Press, 2021) recently won a Nautilus Book Award.

Minding Bodies aims to help instructors improve their students’ knowledge and skills through physical movement, attention to the spatial environment, and sensitivity to humans as more than “brains on sticks.” It shifts the focus of adult learning from an exclusively mental effort toward an embodied, sensory-rich experience, offering new strategies to maximize the effectiveness of time spent learning together on campus as well as remotely.

“I wrote this book to advocate for a holistic view of learning. I am very proud to be honored by an organization dedicated to inspiration, imagination, wisdom, and new possibilities,” says Hrach. 

The Nautilus Award follows Hrach’s spring appearances as a guest on Columbia University’s Dead Ideas in Teaching and Learning podcast and Vanderbilt University’s Leading Lines podcast. In April, she delivered keynote presentations at the Military Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Forum and the USG’s Teaching and Learning Conference. 

Hrach has taught English at Columbus State since 1999, and she also currently serves as the director of CSU’s Faculty Center for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning. She is a past recipient of the CSU Faculty Service Award (2010), the USG Regents’ Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Award (2013), and the CSU Living Our Values Award (2018). 

The Nautilus Book Award celebrates and honors books that support conscious living and green values, high-level wellness, positive social change and social justice, and spiritual growth. The awards program has recognized writers from the U.S. and internationally annually since 1998. Minding Bodies is the winner in the Social Sciences and Education category.

For the full list of 2022 winners, visit https://nautilusbookawards.com/2022-winners-cat-21-29/.