Academic Courses
Applied Theatre & Progressive Pedagogy for Higher Education
Forging critical dialogue, experiential learning, and anti-racist theatrical practices through intentional play.
My academic and applied theater courses are highly collaborative, experiential learning environments where students learn to recognize and challenge racism in the arts, while developing the ensemble, leadership, and creative skills needed to contribute inclusively, thoughtfully, and professionally to all aspects of theater and production. Using an interdisciplinary praxis that fuses Augusto Boal’s Theatre of the Oppressed, Playback Theatre, and foundational improvisational comedy, I teach incoming artists how to form brave spaces, practice active listening, and engage in critical dialogue. Through my faculty coursework at the Carnegie Mellon University School of Drama and the Point Park University Conservatory of Performing Arts, I guide student cohorts through experiential, play-based modules designed to tackle complex social issues, prototype real-time creative solutions, and champion anti-racist theatrical practices.
Courses Taught
Carnegie Mellon University
Anti-Racist and Equitable Practices in Theatre (AREPT)
This course aims at helping all incoming first-year undergraduate and graduate students learn how they can contribute to a community within the School of Drama, and in the professional field beyond, that is actively anti-racist and combats all forms of identity-based oppression and discrimination, including oppression and discrimination based in race, ethnicity, religious affiliation, sex, gender identity, sexuality, and disability. The course will provide an educational experience that will be an ongoing foundational aspect of the Drama curriculum.
Applying Improv to the Workplace
Using concepts from improv comedy of listening, yes, and..., and collaboration, we will learn how to be a better colleague at work. Through this course, you will build an ensemble with your peers to foster team building, learn how to be present in the moment, and adapt to moments of spontaneity. During the course, you will be introduced to improvisational techniques and exercises that will develop your performance ability, increase your skills of collaboration, and deepen your listening skills.
Theatre of the Oppressed: An Introduction to Forum Theatre Performance
This class will use theatrical storytelling to prototype solutions to unsolvable cultural problems. Using an applied theatre praxis, students will learn about Augusto Boal's Theatre of the Oppressed, specifically Forum Theatre, as a method for using performance to address a specific social issue chosen by the students. As part of the course, students will devise a performance for a live audience to engage with at the end of the class.
Point Park University
Ensemble Lab V
This ensemble lab is an extension of the work in the current year's advanced-level directing, playwriting, contemporary drama, and performance courses. Topics may include: Stage combat, devised work, rehearsal, and performance, devised work, movement, voice, acting techniques, text, and other special topics. This course will consist of a sequence of improvisational and interactive games and exercises that build upon one another and are engaged in by individuals and in groups.
Student Reviews
“Professor Parker is the most prepared, thorough, and dedicated professor I have had this semester. She is not only an excellent educator but a clear expert in her field. She makes me want to hold myself to a higher standard and not only be a better student but a better person. I sincerely hope she is hired at a full-time capacity as she brings so much to this institution.”
“She is by far the most engaged and understanding teacher I have.”
“This class is a stellar part of the semester, and Prof. Parker is obviously very knowledgeable in her work. She created a community within the classroom unlike any I have ever had, and often brought joy into a class dealing with heavy topics. I thoroughly enjoyed this course and learned so very much.”
“We learned a lot, and Professor Parker was extremely effective at forging a collaborative environment and taking care of us as we went. The course was very challenging, but it paid off so well by the end, and I think it would benefit this school so much to continue to offer it.”
“Professor Parker is passionate about the subject and that passion has filled the class as we all learn a new language, a new way to talk about inclusion and equity.”
“Excellent course. Very needed. Very rewarding. Professor Parker is highly experienced and qualified to do this job.”