he Performance Studies Program was the perfect match for Amy Champ, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of California, Davis. The program, which is unique from other Performance Studies programs across the nation, emphasizes the practice aspect of research. “It is not just about book learning here,” Champ said.

Champ’s interest in yoga began the summer of 1994 after she graduated from Pitzer College in Claremont, CA. “At the time people were doing yoga,” she said. “But it wasn’t as popular then as it is now.” Her love for yoga continued to grow over the years and eventually led her to become a yoga teacher.

Champ incorporates her designated emphasis of Women’s Studies and Religious Studies into her research of yoga in the United States.

Her advice to future doctorate students comes in two parts. “Publish early,” Champ said. She is a blogger for the Eco-Yoga website Elephant Journal, and published in LA Yoga magazine. She hopes to publish her dissertation in a format that will be accessible to an audience that includes both academics and yoga practitioners.

“Apply for grants as soon as possible and get your own funding,” she added. A Davis Humanities Institute grant recipient, Champ has also participated in the Dissertation Mentorship. Through this program, she was able to hire an intern to aid in her research for a quarter.

Champ’s work has allowed her to study and research in libraries at Harvard, as well as Oxford and Cambridge in England. A Graduate Student Association travel award helped her make her way to the other side of the world. She also attended an annual Performance Studies International conference in Toronto.

The former Sacramento State University and Sacramento City College American Government and Political Science Professor is good at giving advice. “If you don’t make fun, it won’t happen. Being in graduate school can be tough, so it's important to make sure that you take care of yourself by having fun," she said. Some activities she enjoys outside of her research include gardening, taking trips with UC Davis Outdoor Adventures and riding around Davis on her mountain bike, which she purchased as soon as she moved to town.

Throughout her time in the yoga realm, she has found that people who do yoga have a lot of skills to offer to the social justice world. In the future, Champ would like to see more collaboration from students in the hard sciences and social sciences. She sees the two sides as complementing one another. In her current project, Champ looks at both physical and social effects of yoga practice. “I’m pretty crazy about research,” she said.