Assistant Professor & Program Director of Theatre Arts
Concord University • Athens, West Virginia
Concord University • Athens, West Virginia
"The theatre demands of its craftsmen that they know their jobs."
~ Robert Edmund Jones
~ Robert Edmund Jones
Two fundamental principles guide my teaching philosophy: first, to impress the need for personal practice in my students; and second, to create a teaching environment built upon inclusivity, transparency, and respect. I look to instill an understanding in my student to use their current course and production work as a laboratory in experimenting, failing, and refining their personal approach to their craft. I strive to ensure my students understand fully what they need to do to be successful – to have autonomy over their future success. I seek to do so in an environment that values their agency with clear communication and expectations that promote a nuanced and tested approach to theatre-making.
Stella Adler once said, "Your talent is your choice." In that spirit, I avoid molding well-oiled theatrical automatons who can beautifully hit their mark on stage; instead, I teach fully formed theatre practitioners whose artistic decisions are founded on an informed nuance drawn from wide-ranging facets, disciplines, and sources. Through this approach, their choices become brilliant, bold, and effective. This guiding principle is how they become 'thinking artists' whose praxis is mature, refined, and conscious.
Stella Adler once said, "Your talent is your choice." In that spirit, I avoid molding well-oiled theatrical automatons who can beautifully hit their mark on stage; instead, I teach fully formed theatre practitioners whose artistic decisions are founded on an informed nuance drawn from wide-ranging facets, disciplines, and sources. Through this approach, their choices become brilliant, bold, and effective. This guiding principle is how they become 'thinking artists' whose praxis is mature, refined, and conscious.
A full teaching philosophy, a diversity statement, and a sample syllabus are available upon request.
Education Membership & Associations
The National Alliance of Acting Teachers
The Association for Theatre Education
Mid-America Theatre Conference (graduate liaison of Playwriting Symposium '23-'25)
Pedagogy Training & Certifications
Teaching Capstone for Higher Education Certificate | Baylor University
Designing for Online Teaching Success (D.O.T.S.) Certificate | Baylor University
Awareness without Judgement - Actor Training Pedagogy | Stella Adler Studio of Acting
The National Alliance of Acting Teachers
The Association for Theatre Education
Mid-America Theatre Conference (graduate liaison of Playwriting Symposium '23-'25)
Pedagogy Training & Certifications
Teaching Capstone for Higher Education Certificate | Baylor University
Designing for Online Teaching Success (D.O.T.S.) Certificate | Baylor University
Awareness without Judgement - Actor Training Pedagogy | Stella Adler Studio of Acting
Teaching Specialties
Introduction to Theatre; Script Analysis; Acting & Performance (Stage/Film/New Media); Devising/Stage Movement, Musical Theatre Performance & Studies, Directing; Theatre History; Dramaturgy; Contemporary Theatre; New Play Development/Playwriting; Queer Theatre; and Ibsen & Nordic Drama.
Introduction to Theatre; Script Analysis; Acting & Performance (Stage/Film/New Media); Devising/Stage Movement, Musical Theatre Performance & Studies, Directing; Theatre History; Dramaturgy; Contemporary Theatre; New Play Development/Playwriting; Queer Theatre; and Ibsen & Nordic Drama.
Concord University
Introduction to Theatre Theatre History Stagecraft
Modern Drama Acting Musical Theatre Performance
Play Production Directing Internship
Introduction to Theatre Theatre History Stagecraft
Modern Drama Acting Musical Theatre Performance
Play Production Directing Internship
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Baylor University
Introduction to Theatre Introduction to Theatre (Online) Acting 1: Realism |
Baylor University Teaching Assistant
Introduction to Theatre Musical Theatre Workshop (New Musical Development) Teaching in English for International Teaching Assistants |
Masterclasses
Dramaturgy - Practical Analysis for Directors | Baylor University
Advanced Directing - Immersive Theatre | Baylor University
Dramaturgy - Practical Analysis for Directors | Baylor University
Advanced Directing - Immersive Theatre | Baylor University
Outreach
WV Thesfest One-Act Judicator | 2025 - Marshall University
WV Thesfest One-Act Judicator | 2025 - Marshall University
Panels & Workshops
Contemporary Collaboration: A Roundtable on Directing in 2025
Mid-America Theatre Conference | March 2025
Collab-a-what-now?: A conversation on contemporary collaboration
Association for Theatre in Higher Education | August 2024
On Directing: Exploring the Mise-en-Scène of Carrie Cracknell's Medea
Comparative Drama Conference | 2024
Character Creation: Imaginative Stimuli Meets Multi-Faceted Characters
Southeastern Theatre Conference | 2024 | Co-Presenter
Queer Affinity Gathering
Association for Theatre in Higher Education | 2023 | Co-Coordinator
Defusing Queerphobia in the Classroom (‘Keeping the Faith: Media(t)ations at a Parochial University’)
Association for Theatre in Higher End | 2023 | Co-Coordinator
From A Remembered Norway: An Exploration on the Causatum of Commonweal Theatre’s Ibsen Festival
Texas Education Theatre Association - Higher Education Research Conference | 2023
Creating Multi-Disciplinary Anti-Hierarchical Rehearsal and Performance Spaces
Association for Theatre in Higher Education/V.A.S.T.A. | 2023
Devising and New Play Nurturing: Encouraging Diverse Voices through New and Rebuilt Practices
Association for Theatre in Higher Education | 2023
From a Remembered Norway: An Exploration on the Causatum of Commonweal Theatre’s Ibsen Festival
Texas Education Theatre Association - Higher Education Research Conference | 2023
A Remembered Norway: The Imagined Self through Commonweal Theatre’s Ibsen Festival
MidAmerica Theatre Conference | 2023
A Remembered Norway: Exploring Commonweal Theatre’s Ibsen Festival
Comparative Drama Conference | 2023
Director & Designer Discussion: An Interview with Joel Sass Session Facilitator
Director’s Lab North | 2021
Contemporary Collaboration: A Roundtable on Directing in 2025
Mid-America Theatre Conference | March 2025
Collab-a-what-now?: A conversation on contemporary collaboration
Association for Theatre in Higher Education | August 2024
On Directing: Exploring the Mise-en-Scène of Carrie Cracknell's Medea
Comparative Drama Conference | 2024
Character Creation: Imaginative Stimuli Meets Multi-Faceted Characters
Southeastern Theatre Conference | 2024 | Co-Presenter
Queer Affinity Gathering
Association for Theatre in Higher Education | 2023 | Co-Coordinator
Defusing Queerphobia in the Classroom (‘Keeping the Faith: Media(t)ations at a Parochial University’)
Association for Theatre in Higher End | 2023 | Co-Coordinator
From A Remembered Norway: An Exploration on the Causatum of Commonweal Theatre’s Ibsen Festival
Texas Education Theatre Association - Higher Education Research Conference | 2023
Creating Multi-Disciplinary Anti-Hierarchical Rehearsal and Performance Spaces
Association for Theatre in Higher Education/V.A.S.T.A. | 2023
Devising and New Play Nurturing: Encouraging Diverse Voices through New and Rebuilt Practices
Association for Theatre in Higher Education | 2023
From a Remembered Norway: An Exploration on the Causatum of Commonweal Theatre’s Ibsen Festival
Texas Education Theatre Association - Higher Education Research Conference | 2023
A Remembered Norway: The Imagined Self through Commonweal Theatre’s Ibsen Festival
MidAmerica Theatre Conference | 2023
A Remembered Norway: Exploring Commonweal Theatre’s Ibsen Festival
Comparative Drama Conference | 2023
Director & Designer Discussion: An Interview with Joel Sass Session Facilitator
Director’s Lab North | 2021
Publications
Articles
"Character Creation: Imaginative Stimuli Meets Multi-Faceted Characters"
The Communication and Theater Association of Minnesota Journal | Volume 47 - 2024 | Co-Author
Book Review:
Muscle Works: Physical Culture and the Performance of Masculinity by Broderick D.V. Chow
Theatre Topics | Forthcoming - 2025
Another Day's Begun: Thornton Wilder’s Our Town in the 21st Century by Howard Sherman
The Journal of American Drama and Theatre | Spring 2024
Storytelling on Screen: An Online Playbook Theatre Archive Guidebook; by Lebron, Rosin, & Vogel
The Communication and Theater Association of Minnesota Journal | Volume 46 - 2023
Theatrical Worlds; edited by Charles Mitchell
The Communication and Theater Association of Minnesota Journal | Volume 45 - 2022
Performance Review:
Into the Woods at Zach Theatre
Texas Theatre Journal | Volume 18 - 2022
Articles
"Character Creation: Imaginative Stimuli Meets Multi-Faceted Characters"
The Communication and Theater Association of Minnesota Journal | Volume 47 - 2024 | Co-Author
Book Review:
Muscle Works: Physical Culture and the Performance of Masculinity by Broderick D.V. Chow
Theatre Topics | Forthcoming - 2025
Another Day's Begun: Thornton Wilder’s Our Town in the 21st Century by Howard Sherman
The Journal of American Drama and Theatre | Spring 2024
Storytelling on Screen: An Online Playbook Theatre Archive Guidebook; by Lebron, Rosin, & Vogel
The Communication and Theater Association of Minnesota Journal | Volume 46 - 2023
Theatrical Worlds; edited by Charles Mitchell
The Communication and Theater Association of Minnesota Journal | Volume 45 - 2022
Performance Review:
Into the Woods at Zach Theatre
Texas Theatre Journal | Volume 18 - 2022
Three Sisters | Baylor University | Photo by Jared Tseng