Micheal Hooker

Micheal Hooker, Ph.D. (they/them), is an interdisciplinary writer, scholar, and body-based educator whose work bridges embodiment, mutual care, and queer screen cultures. With a doctorate in Transformative Studies and over two decades of experience in somatic therapy and education, their research investigates how personal and collective change are lived through the body and reflected in care-work, creative practice, and public life.

Their published and forthcoming work spans edited collections, peer-reviewed journals, and hybrid literary forms, including an auto-fiction story collection and research on eating disorders in North American screen culture. Across these disciplines, Hooker continuously returns to questions shaped by their upbringing in the woods of rural Florida: if culture and nature were never separate, what becomes possible when we begin to feel that entanglement in our bodies? How might such awareness shift one’s sense of origin, belonging, and purpose?

As a somatic coach and founder of Embodied Purpose, LLC, Hooker supports individuals and groups in cultivating practical, body-centered approaches that build capacity, reduce burnout, and help them more fully embody the work they are here to do. They are especially passionate about working with academics, artists, and activists struggling with burnout and institutional betrayal.

What drew you to the MA Arts Politics program?

I was drawn to the Arts Politics program after studying psychology through the lens of performance art and discovering that Karen Finley was part of the faculty.

What are some of the challenges and/or rewards of this program?

The most rewarding part of my APP experience has been the lasting friendships and collegial community. The greatest challenge I’ve observed is the need for students to clarify what they’re truly passionate about, so they can focus their time and apply the program’s theories and experiences in ways that enrich their lives and strengthen their skills.

How did your experience in the program shape your work? 

APP taught me to temper the kind of critique that forecloses learning while remaining deeply, critically engaged. This has strengthened both my creative and scholarly writing, and galvanized my resolve to support clients with a steadier capacity for nuance, uncertainty, and complexity.