Returning to USD’s campus after this exciting summer, I am recharged for the fall semester. Over the summer I attended the annual conference of the Association for for Theatre in Higher Education (ATHE) in Scottsdale, Arizona. Notwithstanding the remarkable heat and phenomenal lightening storms, I presented a paper in a session titled: Let Them Dream The Impossible Dream. My paper discusses how educators can help enrich the theatre major’s training with entrepreneurial tools and business etiquette to navigate the often-unmapped desert of employment in the arts. Today’s college student is facing a delicate economic and uncertain career planning. With strategies and tools, graduates with theatre degrees can design a career either as an independent artist or as part of a larger organization – in the arts or ANY field. I am excited to be part of the vanguard of educators deciphering the necessity of this kind of education and developing a pedagogical approach to its introduction.

Theatre and Society classes participate in a flipped pedagogy of internet interactive learning by commenting on videos, exploring instructional media and taking online assessments.

A private WordPress group site of student created and commented blog entries.

Fall 2013 semester’s class made amazing group posts for their final projects which led to dynamic, well-crafted presentations that surprised these undergraduate, non-theatre majors and inspired many to get further involved in theatre either at USD or in their own towns!