Interdisciplinary Teaching of Theatre and Human Rights in Honors

One of the centerpieces of honors education is careful research and thorough analysis of what we teach and why we teach our chosen subjects. In creating my honors class Theatre and Human Rights, I explored how I would teach the course and the various components best suited to teaching this topic. After first considering the topic of human rights and its relevance to theatre in an honors context, I then considered the value of interdisciplinary teaching in such a course and what its impact could be on helping students understand human rights, specifically through the study of Athol Fugard’s 1982 play “Master Harold” . . . and the Boys. Considering the topic of theatre and human rights, its background, pedagogy, and philosophy may provide an example of the kind of work that goes into making honors education a distinct segment of higher education in North America today