Teaching Theatre History: Re-Directing an Existing Course

This thesis is written to detail the process and results of the theatre history class that I assisted in teaching during the fall semester of 2005. It details the process of formulating the class structure, how the class proceeded, my lecture process, and finally the responses that the students had to the class. The first chapter of this paper goes into the process of getting the class formulated. When Shaun McCracken and I were asked to take over instruction of THEA 307 for the fall during Dr. Barnes\u27 sabbatical, rather than exactly following the process that the class had previously taken, we decided to alter some of the elements of the class. We added in a response system for the reading that the students would be doing through the semester. In addition to this, we put together a course packet of readings from plays and other books and essays to supplement the main book we would be using, rather than have the students buy another expensive book for the course that they would not entirely use throughout the semester, indeed the rest of the year. For the second chapter, I go into the class itself, its environment, the physical shape of the class as it went on and the grading for the semester. Third in this thesis is a look at the lectures that I performed for my section of the class time, the rationale behind the section layout, and where some of the readings had their basis in my assignment. Finally, the paper looks at the responses that the students had to the class itself and any possible improvements that I could be made in future classes of this type