


Stages of Reckoning is a crucial conversation about how racialized bodies and power intersect within actor training spaces. While acknowledging my whiteness and the inherent limitations that brings my understanding for lives of color lived, this chapter will focus on how I rethink the ways in which I choose, cast, and coach scenework, toward the broader aim of a fully inclusive, anti-racist acting classroom. These students frequently feel the conflicting expectations of learning to perform truthfully and honestly, while simultaneously navigating cultural expectations from their teachers: expectations which can be rooted in ignorance and white supremacy.
#COLUMBUS STATE LOGIN FREE#
Specifically, how do I work to decolonize the canon of plays from which I choose acting scenes, the ways in which I cast students in scenework, and the methods by which I coach scenework? How do I use my white body to model and embody allyship in the acting classroom? Drawing on the theoretical work of Angela Chia-yi Pao, Amanda Rogers, etc., as well as student testimony, this chapter will discover the means by which I strive to create an explorative and artistically free lab space inclusive of students of color.
#COLUMBUS STATE LOGIN PROFESSIONAL#
more Book: Stages of ReckoningĪs a white acting pedagogue striving to execute personal and professional ethical responsibilities around social justice, I am mindful of my choices in the classroom, and their potential significations. Noreen BarnesĮdited By Amy Mihyang Ginthe. I currently reside in the greater Atlanta area with the love of my life, my husband Neil. At CSU, I co-founded the Busted Open Canon Staged Reading Series, and was a top finalist for CSU's Educator of the Year, 2019. I was Vice Chair of the Directing Committee at the Southeastern Theatre Conference, 2020-22. in Stage Direction from the Conservatory of Theatre Arts at Webster University, and I'm a member of the Young Vic’s Genesis Director’s Project (London, UK), and the American Humor Studies Association (AHSA). in Pedagogy from Virginia Commonwealth University, a B.A. My academic research and writing lives at the intersections of humor, race, gender, sexuality, (dis)ability, transnational, and performance studies, and I enjoy writing and publishing in these realms. with the University of Kansas in 2018, where I taught Acting, Public Speaking as Performance, and a course in comic performance and theory titled, “The Gravity of Humor.” My long-time interest in transnational collaboration led to my work directing and performing in theatres and live production around the globe for many years, including stints in London, Dublin, Toronto, and New York City.

Currently, I work primarily with UserTesting, helping other companies design UX research initiatives and writing on UX/UI in technology. I am also a long-time stage director and performer, passionate about performance as a tool for social change and increased social consciousness. Most recently, I am a guest lecturer for the MBA program, Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago, and I was a professor at Columbus State University, where I taught graduate and undergraduate Theatre History and Literature, Introduction to Acting and Directing, Acting II, Script Analysis, Devised Performance, and Dramaturgy. I have been teaching in a host of universities, colleges, and various corporate and non-profit organizations since 2011. I wear many hats, as a writer, professor, content manager, and learning consultant for both academic and corporate organizations.
