CONFERENCE SCHEDULE | 15
Drama , Reading and Research : Shine A Light ! Track : Research / Scholarship Presenter : Carol Baker & Amanda Moon Location : Crowne Plaza – Carlsbad – Lower Lobby Level
This workshop shares details about Spark , a drama and literacy intervention outreach program of the SC Governor ' s School for the Arts and Humanities , implemented in the state of South Carolina over the course of 6 years . The purpose of Spark is to use elementary drama strategies to address a legislative mandate that third grade students meet reading benchmarks in order to be promoted to the fourth grade . For thousands of students , this goal is not being met . Thanks to ESSER III funding from the SC Department of Education and the SC Arts Commission , Spark works in tandem with elementary level teachers , media specialists , and reading coaches by focusing on reading motivation , creative / divergent thinking , and joyful storytelling . The program model includes long term artist residencies for direct instruction during the academic year , short term residencies for summer reading camps , professional development experiences , and schoolwide engagement through professional performances , plays and storytellers . The program partners with Dr . Peter Duffy and the University of South Carolina for research and program evaluation . In this session , participants will be invited to explore Spark through the lens of partnerships , programming , research and program evaluation . Participants will be encouraged to share and discuss their own learning climates , and the successes and challenges of drama applications in those settings . The presenters will provide an overview of Spark structures , preliminary results from research and program evaluation , and explore how the research and program evaluation results help serve as an advocacy tool for drama education .
Encouraging a Culture of Care with Theatre Writing Tracks : Applied Theatre , College / University , High School , Playwriting , Professional Theatre , Youth Theatre Presenters : Emmanuel Wilson , Mora V . Harris , Jordan Stovall , Miriam BC Tobin & TJ Young Location : Crowne Plaza – McKinley – Third Floor
Theatre was developed to encourage a space of cultural dialogue , exchange , emotional growth , and ideation . How can we open spaces for students to explore these concepts from a place of honesty , whilst ensuring the proper measures are in place for them to feel supported throughout the process ? In this session presented by The Dramatists Guild of America , we will explore pre-existing systems of exploitation in the American Theatre industry , how to re-create our collective notion of theatre in terms of what we teach , expanding the canon to incorporate inclusion , the perspective of theatre writing as a craft in the educational system , and how we can collectively re-enforce a culture of care .
Letting Go of Theatrical Whiteness : Racialized Response for Dramatic Analysis Track : High School Presenter : Samantha Briggs Location : The 5 th Avenue Theatre – Studio A
As theatre teachers and directors , we ' re probably all familiar with analysis worksheets aimed at helping students and performers develop a more nuanced understanding of play scripts and portray more fully realized characters on stage , a la Francis Hodge ' s script analysis , and Uta Hagen ' s 9 Questions . This workshop proposes a revision to the questions these worksheets typically pose , inviting individuals to more actively consider race , culture , and identity as a critical part of the analysis process . Inspired by racialized reader responses in literature studies , the questions introduced in this workshop encourage students and actors to take both their own and their character ' s racial and cultural identity into consideration while analyzing a play or learning a role . Using questions such as " What structural obstacles does the character face ?" and " How does the character ' s racial identity impact their relationship with other characters in the play ?" Students and performers are invited to not only explicate unexplored aspects of their character but also to think critically about identity , power , privilege , etc . Through this process , individuals can begin to see how their own intersectional identities become ideologies that in turn influence how they interpret not only what they read , watch , and hear , but also how they organize their understanding of the world in general . Because North
Updated 7.26.23