Teaching Philosophy

I'm a firm believer in project-based learning. That is, presenting the students with a problem and letting them come up with solutions on their own. After all: that is what theatre is all about, taking a problem (the play) and creating something uniquely tangible from the script. 

In all the courses I teach, I try and give my students the opportunity for exploration and for trying new things. Even in Stagecraft, where the traditional methods may be the best option for a particular problem, they are rarely the only option. Letting students try something different is often the best way to teach them which techniques work best in particular situations.

Built into this approach is the possibility of failure. The best lessons are often learned from our biggest mistakes. Letting students experiment and make mistakes in the classroom or on the university stage is one of best ways, I believe,  to prepare them for a career in the theatre. It encourages them to ask questions, adapt, think critically, make decisions and, most importantly, make changes when things are not working as expected. 

• Stagecraft
• Lighting & Sound Design
• Design Studio
• Drawing for the Theatre
• Technical Theatre Production
• Capstone Project
• Technical Direction
• Introduction to Theatre
• Various production practicum courses

I've taught stagecraft at four different universities over the last sixteen years. In that time my approach to the subject has evolved. Initially I was teaching a traditional stagecraft class covering all the basics of traditional scenic construction and using the department's theatre season as a primary teaching tool and requiring the students to put in time working on that semester's productions. This method is fairly common, and not without its merits, but over the years I have grown frustrated with this approach. Specifically, I do not like using the class to build scenery for use in a production. Instead I prefer to teach principles, problem solving, tool use, and safety. Then when they come back to the shop to fulfill a practicum credit or other production requirement, they are allowed to work on the set. This has resulted in a much more efficient and safe shop. 

Each semester I assign the class a project or two they will research and construct. Typically this is a prop or small scenic element that is either chosen by me or by the student. We then explore the theatrical design process with the project as the foundation. Students hopefully learn collaboration, research, and planning, along with the skills needed to complete the project. 

Lighting and Sound Design is a new course for me; I've only had the opportunity to teach it a few times so it's still a work in progress. In the class I try and cover the basics of the design process: research, collaboration, and communication. We cover technology and do a lot of hands on work. The lighting portion of the class finishes with a large paper project, and the sound portion with a sound plot/paperwork for a production, plus an edited soundscape. 

Next semester I'm going to try and combine the two projects and have them create a lighting design based on one of their classmate's soundscape. 

Design Studio is one of my favorite courses. It is a crash couse in being part of a production team. All students in our program who want to design for the main stage season must complete Studio I. The class is broken into production teams and assigned a play. The team works on a design for the play, meeting weekly, with deadlines that mirror the NDSU production calendar. This way the students get a taste of collaboration and the design process without the pressure of a realized design. We typically do two productions over the course of the semester, switching groups and design disciplines at midterm. Projects are critiqued by the faculty and the class.