Tuesday, December 07, 2021
Visions about Higher Education in the Performing Arts
HowlRound Theatre Commons: What makes a good university? How can universities prepare young performing arts workers for a field that seems both straightforward and immensely unsure? How can universities empower students to become active players and generators of change in their field, both in an aesthetic and a structural sense?
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8 comments:
There has been a lot of talk about higher education for performing arts in America over the last few years but I hadn’t really branched out and begun thinking about how other countries are thinking about higher eduction, specifically for performing arts. This article is quite expansive in the ideas and concepts that are brought up from their research interviews. I do think an important concept was brought up about the challenges of the industry being a part of the capitalist market and how we can’t really change that. But how can our awareness of it effect the types of things that are studied in our schools? How do we evolve and inspire and not burn out? I am not the one to some up with the answers currently, as I am studying in the West. I will say, I think that it is good when educational cultures allow students to change their area of study so they are not locked into something. This seems more natural and organic. I am interested to see how the higher education system in the performing arts will continue to evolve in the US over the years.
While higher education in theatre can be frowned upon by the general public and they all probably think that we should get "real jobs", these critiques of how we go about educational theatre aren't unfounded. Some traditional pedagogical methods aren't necessarily right for the task at hand, especially with as broad of a scope as theatre, both technical and creative. It wouldn't be a bad idea to try to experiment with different methods of teaching, especially here in the School of Drama, and I'm not speaking in regards to the norm that's already established here, because it obviously has shown positive results about the alumni who have graduated from this program. I'm talking about how the change that could be adaptive towards the needs of the generation that are coming in should at least be studied and paid close attention to so that we can offer the greatest education possible at one of the premier drama schools in the country.
A seemingly obvious concept from this article that resonates with me is "A performing arts university's function is to at least not limit the imagination." Of course! Right? But for real, when was the last time we really stretched out our brains in any sort of raw, unfiltered manner? We are such perfectionists (and I don't mean this with a positive connotation) and care so much about how others see us. It's sort of a vicious cycle that I can't even really pin on one aspect of the system, because it can come from within. Even our exploratory freshman design classes left me so stressed. Growing up, I had an acting and improv teacher who was so fun and excited. He claimed the key to being a creative is to never stop being a kid. Now, I wouldn't take this seriously, but there's value in that. The real question would be translating this into some concrete exercises. I can't say I know how to do that, but maybe a silly, ungraded, fun class could be a good start?
This article is super interesting because it’s from the perspective of eastern europe whose system is certainly different than ours here in the US. It was nice to hear some of the things they do there that maybe we should do and hear what sort of problems they’re having out there. One of the things that they noted is that cornering people into a major is frustrating sometimes for some people. CMU’s theater program (and many other programs for that matter) are set up that way. Having to choose what you want to go to college for when you’re 17 or maybe 18 and spend {theoretically) the next four years of your life is a big decision. Many people like what they chose but some people don’t and end up trying to change which can be a challenge. I think the more specific and specialized the program, the earlier on you have to decide. Out program has some wiggle room in it where you do get to choose from the six specialties, but you are a theater major the whole time.
I would love to have a sit-down chat with the faculty at CMU to see what their ideas are when it comes to the type of artist CMU is producing? In all honesty, I don’t really have a full grasp of what they are trying to prepare us for. I feel like we are being prepared to just be busy. To just pump out work that is asked of us does anyone else feel like that? Sometimes I feel like the culture at CMU is “kill yourself for the cause” and it's honestly just sad. I and I think other students, come here wanting to create, collaborate, and learn but (and I’ll speak for myself) we are just hit with the project after project and are given little freedom to explore our interest. It just feels like I am paying to work for some production company rather than paying to get an education in theater… Am I taking this opportunity to talk about my problems with CMU rather than higher education in arts, yes, because I feel like there are a lot of things wrong? There are also very good things that CMU offers that I am neglecting to talk about and I see that I sound very ungrateful but I would rather address problems over letting them slide and continue to create a toxic culture at this school.
This was a really interesting article to read, especially the parts about universities being stuck in the past and not wanting to experiment as well as types of teachers these students would like to learn from. What I find interesting about that last part is that while having a revolving door of teachers from different perspectives and walks of life for most fields of theater would be an amazing experience, there are some departments in which that would not provide the same experience for as those experiences cannot be directly applied to the work of managers. I strongly agree that there needs to be a rotating pool of knowledge, especially because in the management fields, there are so many different areas we can apply our skills to but we often don’t have the chance to learn about those in detail beyond a one semester class in which you discuss a large variety of topics. It was also interesting how there was this focus on the master’s degree and how it looks like it’s becoming a rising thing in Western Europe, and it makes me wonder how these programs are different and similar to Master’s Programs in the US.
I think about what makes a good university, or rather a good educator, all the time. I super agree with Dima Levitskyi on the toilet comment (which was hilarious by the way), and I would like to make it clear that Purnell’s single stall restrooms are the best thing to have happened during this building’s construction. On a more serious note, educational freedom is talked about a lot in this article, and I would have to second their ideas in a big way. Educational freedom is something I wish I had more of at CMU; I wish I had the opportunity to meld my learning into a mesh of technical direction, scenic design, and fine artisanry. One quote that sticks out to me is the following: “At the base of critical thinking and artistic self-exploration lies a kind of freedom that is not readily available for some actor students, especially women.” I have felt this sentiment so much, and have felt so much pushback for trying to explore my interests which are more ‘feminine’ than what my major prescribes. I wish it were not the case. The article’s comments on an inclusive education for POC, women, and other marginalized groups (at CMU, people with disabilities has been a relevant member of this group as well) of students are great. This kind of progressive ideology is what I want to see us tackle without reservation. Radical empathy and change could do so much for us here if we only lifted our reservations.
I loved this article. I think the first step in creating change is finding out what needs to change and how people want to enact said change. While this seems to be focussed on European universities, we can see there are a lot of parallels with the American style of pedagogy. Our colleges and universities are not free as they are in most places in Europe, so we are paying a lot of money for what we get. This does allow us a little more freedom in where we can go as we do not always need to start over if we decide to change where we are learning from.
One of my favorite things that happened during our year remote was the way we had classes inviting professionals to speak with us. It wasn’t the handful of CMU faculty talking to us about what the world is like. More voices make a difference. I understand that in grad school we are here to hone our skillset but we must remember that we are in a collaborative industry and learning together is a great way of building those stronger bonds. We also need to remember that we are all humans who are trying to create a better industry together.
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