Exploring conflict surrounding the production of a controversial play on three college campuses.

How do colleges and their primary constituents develop responses to highly controversial performing arts events on campus? Using an adapted conceptual model for analyzing the conflict process, I explore the dynamics of conflict surrounding the Pulitzer Prize-winning play Angels in America, A Gay Fantasia on National Themes; Part One: Millennium Approaches by Tony Kushner (1992) on three campuses: Wabash College (Crawfordsville, Indiana), The Catholic University of America (Washington, DC), and Kilgore College (Kilgore, Texas). This study is designed as a qualitative collective case study, exploring conflict surrounding the selection, production, performance, and aftermath of the play. The study is a trilogy of purposefully selected cases that provide maximal variation with regard to geographic, political, and religious characteristics of the campus community. Kushner's Angels in America serves as the common thread, connecting these three cases of campus conflict. In each case, the reaction to the controversy caught theatre and drama faculty, administrators, and the campus community off-guard. The escalating conflicts eventually garnered the attention of the national higher education community via articles and features in The Chronicle of Higher Education. Data collected include on-site interviews with theater faculty, staff, administrators, and other key participants as well as print, electronic, and video/photographic materials. Data is analyzed using a conceptual framework based on a Conflict Process Model to provide insight into the complex dynamics of each conflict situation. Concepts and issues explored in the data include: conflict management, academic freedom, artistic expression, free speech, culture wars, cultural dissonance, religious freedom, mission, accountability, self-censorship, donor relations, alumni relations, public relations, marketability, communication, strategic planning, the media, safety and security, homosexuality, homophobia, local politics, conservative/liberal ideologies, trustees, decision making, and policy. A comparative data analysis contrasts some of the more unusual themes that emerged from the three campus case studies and focuses on three macro-themes: values, fear, and power. The study concludes with comments and suggestions regarding guidelines to assist faculty and administrators in developing a campus-specific approach to better understand, anticipate, and manage conflict surrounding potentially controversial artistic expression.PhDCommunication and the ArtsEducationEducational administrationHigher educationTheaterUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/131899/2/3057952.pd