Abstract
Specially designed to engage students in interpretive learning through embodied practice, our Performing History classroom model uses theatrical devising, improvisation, and original writing to explore a specific historical event or time period. After piloting the class in 2020 with a focus on the women’s suffrage movement in the United States (1848-1920), we taught the course again in 2025, selecting the Federal Theatre Project (1935-1939) as the topic. For this second iteration of the class we refined our course blueprint, guiding students through deeper and broader explorations of place and period. We further scaffolded the classroom improvisational exercises, more intentionally weaving historical happenings into our contemporary context. News articles, speeches, plays, and letters, alongside other historical artifacts, provided a documentary foundation for examination, discussion, and creation. Students delved into the socio-political context and theatrical history of the time period as they explored the politics of performance. In the Performing History construct, classroom exercises and assignments actively guide students as they examine and ultimately embody the past through theatrical tableau, monologues, scenes, and song. In this hands-on workshop, participants will engage in a variety of interpretive learning activities from our Performing History model. Participants will be guided through a sampling of interpretive learning lessons in place and period to experience firsthand the leap from passive to active learning. These classroom exercises are designed for flexibility, and can be adapted for use in a range of performance or theatre history courses and modalities to activate student engagement through embodied interpretive learning.
Presenters
Molly HoodAssociate Professor, Theatre and Cinema, Radford University, United States Amanda J. Nelson
Associate Professor, Theatre & Director, MFA Arts Leadership, School of Performing Arts, Theatre, Virginia Tech, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Theme
KEYWORDS
Active Learning, Devising, History and Performance, Interpretive Learning, Multimodal Storytelling
