ASTR

This year's ASTR was, in my opinion, the best I have attended. It was a wonderful weekend full of great scholarship and discussion. I really enjoyed the plenaries that I attended, especially the one with Scott Magelsson, Lisa Peschel, and John Fletcher. Not only was the scholarship excellent and engaging, but more importantly, the community they established both among themselves and the audience was unique. Lisa inserted into her paper three performative interludes, performed by the three speakers, that created a new sort of model that I hope others follow in the future. This model of teamwork carried through to the Q & A portion of the presentation. There was a moment when Lisa was searching for a phrase; an audience member helped her out so that the very meaningful discussion could continue. It was a moment of collectivity and support that I have not seen before at a major conference.

My own seminar was very interesting. I thought the level of the papers was remarkable - they were of extremely high quality of thought and execution. Even better, the discussion that we shared before and during the conference was very helpful and meaningful. I thought we were able to touch on very contentious issues of identity and identification in an ethical manner that opened up the possibility for dialogue and change.

ASTR

ASTR is a month away and I am looking forward to presenting my paper on Will Power's Flow as part of Seminar 10. I am beginning work on condensing my dissertation chapter on hip hop theatre into a proper seminar paper.

Dramaturgy-Specific

I am energized by the number of jobs that specifically mention dramaturgy. It is my intent to secure a position at a University at which I can implement a rigorous Dramaturgy program. I want to train young artists in this creative and collaborative field because I believe dramaturgy is integral to crafting a strong production. Because I already have a syllabus for an introductory level dramaturgy course, my goal is to develop syllabi for intermediate and advanced dramaturgy classes so that I have a full course of study ready to go. I would marry these to practical work, perhaps developing the dramaturgy classes to work in tandem with existing directing, playwrighting, Acting, and design programs. I want to ensure that dramaturgy as a field of study is put on par with the other theatrical disciplines. If my colleagues are amenable, I would like to create a final seminar - Directing, Playwrighting, Acting, Design, and dramaturgy - in which senior students would form collaborative groups to create a final production.