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Academic Consulting

History

I love teaching in my own classrooms - I have six years of experience as an instructor of record in college classrooms and over a decade of experience as a theatre educator for ages 4+ - but one of my favorite things about theatre education is partnering with other educators and teaching artists to cultivate better student experiences together than we could on our own. The opportunity to do so with a wide cross-section of faculty members and graduate instructors was one of the highlights of my grad school experience; now I'm seeking opportunities to collaborate with colleagues around the country who could use additional support incorporating lessons that embody the reciprocal relationship between theory and practice with an eye towards realizing diversity, equity, and inclusion in a meaningful way.

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My introduction to theatre pedagogy was working for both youth theatres and a program that engaged theatre as a methodology for teaching core curricular skills to gifted and talented young people. These programs required an ability to scaffold extended sequences of embodied experiences to deliver content in a way that was effective, engaging, and accessible.  

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When I began teaching in a University setting I learned that students often found it difficult to apply concepts learned in theory-based classes to their work as practitioners. For example, there were tons of conversations happening in the broader field about "salvaging" problematic musicals through conscious casting (and horror stories about misguided productions that tried to do so and went terribly awry), but little training for actors to think about how they would need to adapt their process to work in these productions (or to have the tools to articulate why a particular production concept was ineffective). I obtained a grant to create The Performance as Research Conscious Casting Project for our musical theatre curriculum, about which I presented at ATHE 2019. (Those project materials are available here!) I created production-as-praxis projects for a Script Analysis course (with grant support) and my own Contemporary Queer Theatre and Acting I courses, all of which combined both conventional academic writing with embodied experiences (including performance opportunities for performers and design opportunities for designers). To learn more about my classroom experience and dissemination of this work at conferences, check out my CV!
 

Services

There are tons of amazing pedagogy resources in the world (my next step is to start compiling some resource lists here!), and it is not my goal to attempt to replace any of them. Instead, I want to offer some super-specific, super-customizable resources for your particular classroom. If you don't see something you want offered, reach out - let's discuss it!

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  • Digital Course Design. COVID-19 meant that many of us got to teach classes online for the first time. Whether you're remaining online in the fall or just realizing that technology offers new opportunities for your classroom, wading through all the online options can be stressful and confusing. If you're looking for some general ideas about how to take a theatre course digital, Facebook is full of great resources for remote theatre ed. If you're looking for specific help translating your favorite course assignments to formats like FlipGrid, TikTok, and Zoom (or how to create new assignments for those platforms that fulfill the same learning objectives), I would love to provide that assistance! (This could look like anything from a conversation to brainstorm possibilities for your class to having me curate an online space for you to combining this with the following offering.)

  • Project Design. Have a concept that you're trying to figure out how to teach in an engaging, embodied way? A project concept you think is cool but that you've never had time to sit down and iron out? A section of your syllabus with which you're just bored? Let me design a project for you! My projects are long-term, multi-step, carefully scaffolded experiences designed to foster group communication without letting the weight of the project rest on one participant. If you're interested in a project, we will have an initial consultation conversation and I'll come back to you with a few potential project ideas. Once you choose one, I can generate everything from student worksheets to sample materials to lesson plans with sample dialogue for explaining the project and discussion prompts. 

  • DEI Consulting. We all want to be inclusive and cultivate class spaces that are as accessible as possible, but sometimes getting feedback on that quest is challenging; I've heard people reflect that they're worried that they'll say the wrong thing or that seeking feedback from a colleague or students will be uncomfortable. I would love to provide a low-risk, low-stakes space for you as you think about cultivating diversity, equity, and inclusion in your classroom, rehearsal spaces, and office hours. That might look like video chatting so you can practice approaching difficult conversations, asking for assistance curating discussion prompts or a student check-in form, or letting me check out your syllabus/assignment/class announcement, ask some questions, and reflect what I'm seeing in a space (relatively) free from power imbalances that can complicate conversations. 

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My services are highly customizable and can be scaled up or down (maybe I'm just giving you a quick personalized TikTok tutorial, maybe I'm Zooming into your classroom to facilitate a whole discussion) as needed. I do not currently have a set fee schedule; let's chat about your needs and find a price point that works for everyone!

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