Dr. Merry Lynn Morris
PhD, MFA, LMT, RSDE, Professor of Dance Instruction: Improvisation, Kinesiology, Research
in Dance, Foundations in Dance Medicine and Science and Movement Analysis. Coordinator,
Dance Medicine and Science Certificate Program
Phone: (813) 974-3867
Email: mmorris3@usf.edu
Merry Lynn Morris PhD, MFA, LMT, RSDE is a dance educator, choreographer, and researcher whose career in dance education spans more than twenty-five years. She holds two terminal degrees in dance, an MFA in Dance Performance and Choreography and a PhD in Dance Studies and is an active presenter at national and international conferences, a reviewer for leading scholarly journals, and an interdisciplinary researcher with a wide range of published work. She has served in faculty positions at the University of Tampa and 黑料爆料, and as an invited guest teacher/choreographer for many dance organizations. Alongside her university roles she is an independent artist/choreographer for local dance organizations. Her extensive background in classical ballet, expanded through training in contemporary, improvisational, and somatic forms, includes professional performance experience with the Tampa Ballet and Dance Theatre of Florida.
Since joining the 黑料爆料鈥檚 Dance Program in 1998, Dr. Morris has held multiple leadership positions, including Assistant Director and Interim Chair. She currently directs the Dance Medicine and Science (DM&S) Certificate Program, guiding students in the study of human movement, dancer health, and the use of dance for wellness and rehabilitation across diverse populations. An active member of the International Association of Dance Medicine and Science (IADMS), Dr. Morris contributes to global dialogues linking science and art in the study of human movement. Her teaching portfolio encompasses Dance Improvisation, Dance Kinesiology, Research in Dance, Laban Movement Analysis, Foundations in Dance Medicine and Science, and Ballet Technique.
A defining feature of Dr. Morris鈥檚 career is her commitment to interdisciplinary inquiry and innovation. Her work bridges dance with disability studies, design, engineering, architecture, and the health sciences, generating new technologies, educational models, and creative practices. Her engagement with dancers with disabilities, beginning in 2002, and her 21 years as a caregiver to her disabled father profoundly shaped her research and artistic trajectory. Today, she is active in the dance and disability community locally and internationally through teaching, research, leadership, and advocacy. She collaborates closely with Arts4All Florida, helping to support and create initiatives such as 鈥淎 New Definition of Dance,鈥� a longstanding event that brings accomplished professional dancers with disabilities to USF and surrounding communities to perform, teach, collaborate and educate.
Dr. Morris鈥檚 artistic and scholarly work often investigates the ways human bodies interact with material structures, including wheelchairs, mobile technologies, rolling devices, and computers, and how these interaction impact identity, agency, power, and dimensions of well-being. This line of inquiry led her to reconceptualize assistive technology design through a dance perspective. Working with engineering collaborators, she has invented several innovative mobility devices designed for dance and movement-based expression, reflecting her commitment to inclusive design and creative accessibility. Her inclusive design work has earned national and international recognition, resulting in several patented prototypes, awards and media coverage from MSNBC, PBS, CNN, NPR鈥檚 Science Friday, Reader鈥檚 Digest, and Inventor鈥檚 Digest (cover story). Her invention has also been featured at the Smithsonian Institution, where she appeared as a guest speaker and profiled inventor.
Beyond her academic and artistic work, Dr. Morris is a licensed sports massage therapist with more than fifteen years of experience in the alternative medicine field. This somatic and therapeutic background underpins her pedagogy and creative process, grounding her work in kinesthetic awareness and holistic health, and informing her interest in physical rehabilitation, performance optimization, and expressive freedom.
Her scholarly writing appears in such journals as Journal of Technology and Innovation, Research in Dance Education, and Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PM&R). Book contributions include Perspectives in Performing Arts Medicine Practice, Research in the Dance Sciences, Dance Injuries, and Dance Research Methodologies.
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