The Peace Corps and Me - Ruth Barnes Lecture

Ruth Barnes, professor emerita at Missouri State University, presented in June 2024. Her presentation consists of her experience in the Peace Corps.
Ruth Barnes is a professor emerita of Missouri State University, where she taught modern/contemporary dance technique, improvisation and composition, dance history, applied kinesiology for the dancer, dance and technology, and mentored senior projects. The recipient of a Fulbright Fellowship to teach, choreograph and perform in the United Kingdom, she taught for 13 years at the Merce Cunningham Studio in New York before moving to Europe to pursue opportunities in dance there. After returning to the U.S., Barnes earned an M.F.A. in Dance/Experimental Choreography from the University of California, Riverside. She also has a Certificat d’aptitude de professeur de dance from the French Ministry of Culture; a Performing Arts Certificate in the Alexander Technique through Balance Arts Center (New York); and a B.A. in English and General Literature from Binghamton University. In September 2023, Barnes embarked on a new endeavor as a Peace Corps Volunteer in North Macedonia. She works with local educators, co-teaching English to primary school students.