TEACHING
DIRECTING
I teach in a program founded on the integration of theory and practice, and my pedagogy sits at that intersection. In my classes, we engage in acts of making and analysis; doing and observing, experimenting, contemplating, and questioning. Some of those classes are hybrid studio-and-seminar courses, where critical study meets laboratory-style experimentation with performance, but in all my courses students are asked to experiment with learning through creating some aspect of performance, even if only in brief exercises. My commitment to the integration of theory and practice was recognized by the Association for Theatre in Higher Education and the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival (Region II) with their Innovative Teaching Award in 2018.
At the University at Buffalo, I teach classes in media and performance, the performance of diverse American identities on stage, in devising collaboratively created performance, writing in the discipline, and feminist theatre. I also teach the Graduate Studio course that is the capstone of our MA program and a vital component of our PhD, in which students explore their intellectual and artistic curiosities through performance. All my classes train students to read and analyze challenging texts and performances alike. Because written expression is a vital skill that spans all disciplines, I draw on my past work as a teaching fellow in English Composition at UCLA to make critical and analytical writing a part of all my classes. I also make great effort to bring other artists and their perspectives into the classroom. To date, I have worked to organize artist visits, talks, and residencies from Blast Theory, Karen Finley, Big Art Group, micha cardenas, and the Wooster Group on UB's campus.
I consider my stage directing work with students an extension of our learning together in coursework. At UB, I've directed the Neo-Futurists' 45 Plays for 45 Presidents, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins's Everybody (in two separate productions with different casts; once on stage, in early spring 2020, and once via Zoom in the fall of that year), and a staged reading of Dry Land by Ruby Rae Speigel. In spring of 2025, I'll direct Fefu and Her Friends for the department's mainstage season.