A lot has happened in the last year and I’m excited to share some of the latest news and updates with you.
If you follow me on any social media platforms, you already know I published a piece with HowlRound Theatre Commons last week. You can read the piece here. This essay was initially written about a year ago for a class all bout HowlRound, a global hub for contemporary theatre knowledge sharing based at Emerson. A version of this essay was my final project for the class and I’m so excited I get to share it with more people.
And speaking of social media, I have created a professional instagram page for sharing my work and connecting with other educators, artists, and scholars. (For example, you can see some photos from the mini opera I devised with other educators over the Summer!) Give me a follow at @thed_thoughts.
Something I enjoyed sharing on the instagram account this summer were artifacts from my camp lessons. I’m in my 3rd year working with Aspire, a therapeutic program for neurodivergent young people and adults, using drama and theatre to work on social, stress management, and self advocacy skills. I got to spend my summer with 90+ 6-13 year olds exploring plants, puppets, and memes through drama! I’m also teaching a version of my drama class this fall and, while I haven’t been able to share anything we’ve been working on, I can tell you I get to spend my Saturday mornings with some of the smartest, kindest, and silliest tweens in the Greater Boston Area.
I also need to give a shoutout to the incredible folks at the Center for Comedic Arts @ Emerson College. I was their graduate student assistant for the last two years and left my position in June. They were kind enough to bring me back this fall to facilitate an orientation workshop where first year students and faculty worked together to set intentions and articulate values they they will bring into their classrooms and artistic work over the next four years. Check out the GORGEOUS photos from that workshop below! (Photo Credit: Sami Ahmad)
Day to day, I’m running all over Boston as a research assistant for a project about how families navigate Boston Public School’s “Lottery” program, working as a teaching assistant for an undergraduate directing class, taking a joyful Viewpoints class (movement and devised theatre), teaching classes with Studio Playground, prepping dramaturgical materials for The Impracticality of Modern Day Mastodons by Rachel Teagle, and most recently, providing administrative support to Youth Theatre Journal as an Editorial Assistant. Oh, and I’m working on my thesis (details forthcoming)! Am I sleeping? Sometimes. Am I stressed? Yes. Am I so lucky to spend all my time doing things I love, with people I admire, that will make the field and the world a better place? Absolutely.