Sometimes when I teach, I am focused on imparting a specific body of information to my students. For example, I am thrilled to have had many opportunities to teach literature students about how theater people approach Shakespearean verse. But most of the teaching I do isn’t primarily about an exchange of information. Rather, I am trying to give my students an experience of connecting with their imaginations, a chance to play and express themselves, an opportunity to discover something they might not have been in touch with when they walked in the room.

I have done this kind of teaching in many contexts: with University students, with elementary aged kids in a settlement house camp, with recently-arrived immigrants in many ESL classes, with displaced people in a refugee camp in Kenya. Each of these experiences challenged me in a different way – it has never been a one-size-fits-all activity. But there is an ethos that carries through, something I try to bring to every teaching opportunity. I want my students to connect with the joy of being a beginner (whatever their previous experience), to discover something new and surprising in the work we do, and to share a spirit of delight in the discoveries they make.

Recent teaching experience:

• UC Santa Cruz (classes and workshops with a variety of students; public talks about “Arden/Everywhere”)
• UC Irvine (Devised a piece with Theater and Non-Theater students)
• UCLA (classes and workshops with undergrad and graduate English students, and Theater students; public talk about “Arden/Everywhere”)
• Luna Stage and Valley Settlement House, West Orange NJ (created a play from stories written by ten year old summer campers)

Upcoming:

• Shakespeare Association of America Conference (April 2019)
• Rice University (Sept., 2019)
• Boise State University (Oct., 2019)

Video: