TEACHING PHILOSopHY

I have twenty years of experience teaching students of all ages from children to adult learners. Although my pedagogical goals and methods vary depending on the specifics of the class, workshop, or setting, here are my four guiding principles.

First, while I am training students to become disciplinary masters, I am cognizant of the transferable skills they are learning beyond the field of theatre and performance. I want all my students to be strong critical thinkers, to master close readings of complex texts, and to synthesize and challenge the arguments presented to them. Regardless of whether or not they are performers, my students all become confident public speakers and savvy media users in ways that are crucial to the ongoing health of our democratic society.

Second, I mentor students to take intellectual and creative risks in their work. My assignments are innovative and rigorous, asking students to fuse critical thinking and scholarly research with creative endeavors, whether that be writing a pitch for a queer play or film that has never been created before, creating a devised, solo-performance honors thesis about three pioneering 19th-century actresses, or directing their own one-act play and preparing a twelve-part director’s book.

Third, I design every course with a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. I work tirelessly to ensure my students encounter writers and thinkers from a wide array of backgrounds including race, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, social class and more. I constantly update my teaching to incorporate the most recent leading artistic voices in American and world theatre. My commitment to diversity also extends to my teaching style, where I use a plethora of pedagogical methods: lecture, PowerPoint, video clips, class discussion, small group work, performance, presentations, field trips, and guest lectures, to capture the multiple intelligences and myriad learning styles of my students.

Fourth, I strive to create a student-centered environment in which the students are engaged and active participants. Rather than a top-down approach in which I disseminate knowledge, I view my students as co-collaborators in a shared endeavor of intellectual curiosity and the pursuit of creativity.

I have always felt that teaching is a calling and I have been blessed to learn with and from my students over many years.