On the first day of any course I teach, I always forewarn my students: I am a theatre director, and in this class you are going to be asked to work collaboratively, creatively and on your feet. Whether leading an introductory writing seminar, a dramaturgical discussion, a theatre history lecture, or a performance rehearsal process, I focus my pedagogy on core principles of care, play, presence, and risk. I come to these principles from a feminist accessibility-oriented ethic: I understand the classroom as a risk-filled politicized space, to which each student brings valuable and often not-yet articulated experiential knowledge in their embodied presence, and together we must playfully spark our inner curiosity if we are to connect across difference. My teaching rejects the competitive model of higher learning under neoliberal capitalism, and instead aims to cultivate a care-filled community of curious, critical creators.
Ritual and community form the foundation of my teaching practice; I use daily rituals to cultivate a sense of the classroom as a learning community. Each session begins with a welcoming physical warm up and reflective question of the day; these provide each student the opportunity to check in with their body, the space, myself, and their peers. The everyday use of these rituals facilitates relational development among the group and creates a familiar framework in which students can begin to feel socially comfortable getting intellectually uncomfortable, taking risks, trying new skills, and articulating new ideas.
I also regularly integrate applied- and devising-theatre exercises into even my non-practice-based teaching; I derive these games from sources such as Augusto Boal’s Games for Actors and Non-Actors or Anne Bogart and Tina Landau’s Viewpoints. Embodied learning allows students to make sensorial connections between their lived experience as subjects in spacetime and the seemingly theoretical analysis of course interlocutors.
Ritual and community form the foundation of my teaching practice; I use daily rituals to cultivate a sense of the classroom as a learning community. Each session begins with a welcoming physical warm up and reflective question of the day; these provide each student the opportunity to check in with their body, the space, myself, and their peers. The everyday use of these rituals facilitates relational development among the group and creates a familiar framework in which students can begin to feel socially comfortable getting intellectually uncomfortable, taking risks, trying new skills, and articulating new ideas.
I also regularly integrate applied- and devising-theatre exercises into even my non-practice-based teaching; I derive these games from sources such as Augusto Boal’s Games for Actors and Non-Actors or Anne Bogart and Tina Landau’s Viewpoints. Embodied learning allows students to make sensorial connections between their lived experience as subjects in spacetime and the seemingly theoretical analysis of course interlocutors.
Courses Taught
Michigan State University (2024-)
RCAH111 - Writing in Transcultural Contexts "Naturecultures & Anthropo(s)cenes: Writing Beyond the Human"
Cornell University (2018-2023)
FGSS 1122 - "Haunted Herstories: The Politics of Writing, Gender and the Gothic"
PMA 1151 “Spectacular Science: Writing for the Theatre and the Scientific Method”
PMA 1162 “Burnout Feminism: The Politics of Writing, Work, and Wellness”
PMA 1611 – Rehearsal and Performance “Haunted Natures Hidden Environments”
WRIT 1340 “Fantom Feminism: The Politics of Writing, Gender, and the Gothic”
WRIT 1340 "Monster Media: Mediating Identity on Stage, Page, and Screen"
RCAH111 - Writing in Transcultural Contexts "Naturecultures & Anthropo(s)cenes: Writing Beyond the Human"
Cornell University (2018-2023)
FGSS 1122 - "Haunted Herstories: The Politics of Writing, Gender and the Gothic"
PMA 1151 “Spectacular Science: Writing for the Theatre and the Scientific Method”
PMA 1162 “Burnout Feminism: The Politics of Writing, Work, and Wellness”
PMA 1611 – Rehearsal and Performance “Haunted Natures Hidden Environments”
WRIT 1340 “Fantom Feminism: The Politics of Writing, Gender, and the Gothic”
WRIT 1340 "Monster Media: Mediating Identity on Stage, Page, and Screen"
Courses ta-ed
Cornell University (2018-2023)
FGSS 2010 – Introduction to Feminist, Gender, Sexuality Studies
PMA 2660 - Television
PMA 2703 – Thinking Media
PMA 2800 – Introduction to Acting
PMA 3630 – Scenic and Lighting Design for Performance Studio
PMA 3750 – Global Stages 1: Ritual, Realism, Revolution
PMA 3758 - Contemporary American Drama on Stage & Screen
PMA 3880 – Fundamentals of Directing I
FGSS 2010 – Introduction to Feminist, Gender, Sexuality Studies
PMA 2660 - Television
PMA 2703 – Thinking Media
PMA 2800 – Introduction to Acting
PMA 3630 – Scenic and Lighting Design for Performance Studio
PMA 3750 – Global Stages 1: Ritual, Realism, Revolution
PMA 3758 - Contemporary American Drama on Stage & Screen
PMA 3880 – Fundamentals of Directing I
Teaching awards
John S. Knight Teaching Portfolio Award (Cornell University, 2023)
James F. Slevin Assignment Sequence Prize (Cornell University, 2022)
FGSS First-Year Writing Seminar Award (Cornell University, 2022)
James F. Slevin Assignment Sequence Prize (Cornell University, 2022)
FGSS First-Year Writing Seminar Award (Cornell University, 2022)
