Abstract:

As a professional lighting designer and theatre professor, working in the field as a designer is the core of my scholarship work, and I’m always eager to use that research as an extension of my teaching and mentoring.

I've established a recurring travel study experience for students that provides an immersive, high-impact, professionalizing educational experience. We produced a play in an off-broadway venue, partnering with NYC theatre company Adjusted Realists. We brought a group of 10 students who each had an assistant or leadership position on the show, relating to their main area of study within theatre ranging from costumes to stage management to lighting. The students worked on a blended team of professional artists and technicians, applying what they learned in the classroom in a professional environment. We secured funding from a private donor to cover the travel and housing costs for each student to ensure that financials were not a barrier to participation. We have funding for 5 years of future projects.

There were various learning objectives achieved in the completion of this project. Not only was there the professional creative goal to create dynamic theatrical designs on the play, but the intention to give students the opportunity to participate in the creation of the show in New York City, the theatre capital of the USA. This provided students with valuable networking and hands on experience in the professional world, and exposed students to new types of theatre spaces and new technology. The students made connections that expanded their network that could lead to future employment, and added a professional credit to their resumes which will help them when they graduate. Our production was a professional success as well, included in the New York Times, TimeOut New York, and New Yorker Magazine.

A great example of a HIEE (High Impact Educational Experience), this travel study trip ties into larger conversations about arts education and transferrable skills, hands-on and experiential learning, communication and leadership, the value of professionalizing experiences, and links between faculty research and student education.

Keywords:

Theatre, Education, Design, Lighting, Travel, Travel Study, Experiential, Research, Pedagogy, Drama.