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Honors Program
Honors Tracker

Bayleigh Cragun

Bayleigh Cragun Honors Student Spotlight.png

B.S. in Sociology
Minors in Contemporary Dance and Theatre Arts Studies
Graduating April 2020

I am a disciple of Christ, a dancer, a sociologist, and a feminist. I do normal things like eat ice cream (more than I should), run (when I wake up on time), and watch movies (way too many), but since my academic and social interests exist in the dance world, that’s where I spend most of my time. I am interested in the intersection of the social world and dance--including dance for social change and development, performance art, and sociology of dance research. I have choreographed three times for BYU’s dancEnsemble, acted as Hip Hop club Vice President and President, and organized Global Dance Fusion three times for BYUSA Care Week.

If you had a warning label, what would it say?
WARNING: passionate and excitable with a tendency toward grumpiness

When you have 30 minutes of free time, what do you do?
I can’t typically focus in 30 minutes, so I usually sleep or watch YouTube.

Why did you decide to join the Honors Program?
I did Late Summer Honors and loved it, but I wasn’t going to do Honors until I heard about the new Honors interdisciplinary courses, which were launched my first semester at BYU. I loved all of the possible topics and decided to adjust my course schedule to fit one in. By the end of my first year, a combination of those classes, work opportunities, and a network of friends and caring professors sold me on the Honors Program. Now I’m sad that I finished all of those courses so quickly (because the new courses are so great), but without them, I wouldn’t have found my home at BYU.

What has been your favorite part of your Honors Experience?
I love every aspect of my Honors experience, so it's impossible for me to choose any specific part. I will say that the Bagel Bash is the highlight of my semester and the Maeser building is my favorite building on campus and possibly the namesake of one of my future children (the building, not the man).

What is your next step?
I am currently working on my thesis. It’s about the formation and performance of identity in a dance-leisure space. Specifically, I’m interested in the identity experience of non-black participants in Step dance, a style of dance that was created by fraternities and sororities on historically black college and university campuses (for an example, think Stomp the Yard). There are some interesting theoretical underpinnings to why this research is important, but I’m mostly excited because I really do believe dance has something to say academically and I have the opportunity to research it.