Courses

These are courses emphasizing public scholarship and practice created and taught by IA staff at SU.

Jan Cohen-Cruz's courses:

“Art in Action: Performance and Social Justice,” fall 2009, focuses on theories and practices of performance that contribute to equity and justice. This course draws students from the Drama Department and Department of Communication and Rhetorical Studies, as well as from the Law School. Students read about and try out a range of approaches, and, in mini-internships, collaborate with the SU law clinics to create a performance or workshop that educates around one of the clinic themes (criminal justice, family and children, the elderly and consumer issues).  The course features guest lectures by director of SU law clinics Mary Helen McNeal. Read Course Syllabus

"Art in Action: Community-Based Performance Practices," spring 2009, is a course for students in the Drama Department and the Department of Communication and Rhetorical Studies. For ten sessions during the spring 2009 semester, students completed community-based performance projects at local organizations including the Community Folk Arts Center’s Kuumba Project; Latino youth theatre troupe, La Joven Guardia del Teatro Latino; Center for New Americans’ Theater Club; The Matilda Joslyn Gage Foundation; The Onondaga Historical Association Museum and Research Center; and Power Unit for Motivating Youth. Read Course Syllabus

"Art in Action: Get on the Bus," spring 2008, uses the Connective Corridor to understand how art can contribute to community development in Syracuse and beyond. The Connective Corridor is a mile and a quarter strip extending from University Hill through downtown, encompassing 23 arts and cultural venues. Five evenings during the spring 2008 semester, the free Connective Corridor bus traveled to two of those venues—such as Syracuse Symphony, Community Folk Arts Center, the Red House, and others. The students co-ordinated brief events at the sites that emphasized the cultural richness that no longer exists—including the 15th Ward, presence of Native Americans, the Erie Canal, active life around the mansions, and large European immigrant groups. The intention was to get more people to experience the sites and to recognize the need for the participating organizations to be supported in order that they, and the city, thrive. Read Course Syllabus or Press Release

Kevin Bott's courses:

"Touring Community-Based Theater," fall 2009, students learn how to develop and implement the technical and educational support structure for a local, professional touring production. Through an investigation of educational and applied theater theory and practice, students investigate the role touring can have in anchoring a professional theatre to its community. Finally, students create and facilitate pre and post-show workshops with audience members, and/or learn and perform the technical roles necessary for staging a successful local tour. This class is a hands-on collaboration with Syracuse Stage.