Location: Zoom Room B / Salle Zoom B

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/5324702280?pwd=yuo077u9YJNihv59FvXxbosHNeVpvv.1

• Megan De Roover and Kim McLeod, “A Space of Possibility: Theatre’s Place in the Landscape of Experiential Learning”

Experiential Learning (EL) can be construed as a liminal space, bridging the classroom and the community, the academic and the professional, the personal and the public. As EL becomes increasingly valued and required within institutions, we believe that theatre offers a unique and valuable perspective as it already champions what is now identified as high-quality EL in meaningful ways. Yet, within the scholarship of EL, theatre is often overlooked despite this natural affinity. We aim to highlight the crucial role theatre plays in EL pedagogy and make visible how this already robust practice can have a larger impact on the academic community and beyond by highlighting its role in liminal contexts. Theatre has the opportunity to be recognized as a leader in curricular EL because of the practices, methods, and knowledges embedded in the discipline. 

Using examples of two EL projects involving theatre students, non-theatre students and community collaborators, we will outline various possibilities and challenges for how theatre programs might influence institutional approaches to EL going forward. Both projects demonstrate how skills developed in theatre programs can be deployed in interdisciplinary EL projects centered on knowledge mobilization. In addition, both provided avenues for students to work outside their main disciplines and connect with the larger community beyond the university. While recognizing the potential for theatre approaches and skills to innovate EL models, we also point to conversations within theatre and performance studies around care, consent and ethical engagement with communities that might challenge some existing approaches to EL within universities. 

• Melanie Dreyer-Lude, “From Outsider Artists to Insider Specialists: How Shifting the Message Can Help Save Theatre Programs”

Budgets cuts across the country are reducing student access to arts and humanities programs. Seen by many as optional, when a fiscal crisis hits, administrators and board members choose to jettison those programs that tend to underperform on the following metrics: 1. Number of students per class, 2. Number of majors, and 3. Full-time employment in the field within a few years of graduation. Theatre programs in Canada tend to fall short on all three of these performance metrics due to the specific characteristics of the discipline. It is not possible to use an Art for Art’s sake strategy when arguing for the value of theatre education. What we need to do is flip the script. The transferable skills a theatre education provides are essential for employability in the contemporary job market. By getting outside of our departments and classrooms and adding more educational opportunities and workshops for those outside of the discipline, we can demonstrate the clear value of our educational stream to those who live and work outside of our normal spheres of influence. By teaching engineering students to use creative problem-solving, medical students to improve their interpersonal skills, and business students to shine in front of an audience, we can shift our status in the academy from a fringe specialization to an essential learning track that will help make all students more employable. This paper will offer specific strategies for helping make theatre programs essential to all students on campus.

Biographies

Megan De Roover

Megan De Roover is an Educational Developer with a Ph.D. in theatre and performance. She supports experiential learning, curriculum design, scholarship, and community-engaged learning in the Office of Teaching and Learning at the University of Guelph. 

Kimberley McLeod

Kimberley McLeod is an Associate Professor in the School of Theatre, English and Creative Writing at the University of Guelph and an Associate Editor of Canadian Theatre Review. 

Melanie Dreyer-Lude

Melanie Dreyer-Lude specializes in intercultural and multilingual theatre projects. Her current research focuses on locating, archiving, analyzing, and adapting traditional stories from small villages in Uganda. Her most recent book, The Adaptable Degree, offers statistical evidence for the employability of theatre graduates across all work sectors.