Shawn Renee Lent moves this world as both a program manager and a social practice dance artist, with experience from a field in Bosnia to a children’s cancer hospital in revolutionary Egypt. Her work is investigating embodied peace, diplomatic innovation, and the arts as a conduit for critical social intervention. Shawn currently serves as Program Director for Chicago Dancemakers Forum, writer and Alliance Building Lead for the think tank Createquity, contributor for the Clyde Fitch Report, and project lead for an Orthodox Jewish and Syrian refugee dance education collaboration in Chicago; Global Water Dances in Flint, MI 2017; and an inter-campus research project through SUNY Purchase on the role of dance in peace education and diplomacy. Shawn recently left her post as the EducationUSA Advising Coordinator at AMIDEAST Cairo (through the U.S. Department of State), and instructor for the full-time professional program at Cairo Contemporary Dance Center. Shawn creates dance experiences that haven’t before existed in the world, and is becoming an artist on her own terms. She is honored to have been a U.S. Fulbright Scholar Artist to Egypt 2012-2013, UN Alliance of Civilizations International Fellow, Commencement Speaker for Millikin University, and panelist/presenter at the University of Maryland, Universal Exposition Milan, Hope College and TEDx Shibin El Kom. In 2013, her blog post Am I a Dancer Who Gave Up? went viral. Shawn holds a Masters in Arts Management from Columbia College Chicago and a Post-Graduate Certificate in Youth Arts Development from Goldsmith’s College.
