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From experimenting with outdoor dance and music classes to reducing learning barriers inherent in the traditional behind-the-podium lecture set up to finding creative ways to virtually honor milestone moments in students’ academic journeys, departments discovered new ways to reach students and share their art.

Community Movement

When COVID-19 shut down theatres and canceled shows, artists found a new stage on Chambers Lawn.

“When students returned to campus in the fall, they were itching for movement,” said Dance Professor Alison Bory.&�Բ�����; 

That desire served as the impetus to institute a dance masterclass—a series of experimental Friday afternoon dance classes open to the �ʼһ��� community. 

The class took place outdoors and was live streamed online. The sessions included a �ʼһ��� alumna yoga instructor, a dance scholar on South Asian aesthetics and a dance teacher for a costumed Halloween nod to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller.” 

Of this time of quarantine and isolation, Bory said, “we need to find joy; we need to find connection; we need to keep experiencing our bodies.”  

In addition to the Friday masterclass, the dance department faculty invited renowned artists to Zoom-share their knowledge--from Miguel Gutierrez for a dance composition course to Haitian artists for a class on dance in the African diaspora. 

Showcasing Student Work

Where the Smith Gallery once filled with friends and faculty of seniors hosting their capstone exhibition receptions, now, live recorded videos of seniors’ studio tours, gallery talks and virtual exhibitions have found a digital home on the

The interactive virtual tours mimic moving through the Smith Gallery, complete with labels for each art piece, a 360-degree rotation of the space and the ability to opt into a virtual reality mode.  

“The software is also a great way for students to conceptualize their exhibition layout, while providing wider accessibility,” Newman said.   &�Բ�����;

“Everyone’s been so innovative,” she said. “It has made us really stretch and rethink how we share our information.” 

 live on their own web pages. The  with works selected by studio art faculty from art and non-art majors, also is on display in a . 

 

Keith, �ʼһ���’s Director of Music Production and Promotion, created the department’s first , where today you can view dozens of performances, from students’ home-recorded to the to Jazz Ensemble’s

“The resilience, courage and love of music that kept everyone together—it’s been very inspiring,” said Keith. “The overall spirit of the students hasn’t been touched.”

In challenging times, “What better way to heal than music?” Keith asked. “All art is special. It not only heals the performer, but also heals the listener.”

Out-of-the-Box Thinking

When students and staff were sent home in the spring of 2020 last year, Theatre Professor Steve Kaliski '07 was struck by the amount of vast, empty campus space that suddenly became available. 

Over the summer, he utilized it to produce the socially-distanced drive-thru theatre production “Exit 30.” 

“If this were a space in Manhattan it wouldn’t work, but we had the whole campus to ourselves,” said Kaliski, who has worked professionally in New York City. 

The distinct vignettes, from a #BlackLivesMatter protest to a socially-distanced, sorrowful birthday party to an Indiana Jones spoof—led the audience from the Armfield apartments towards the ����������é�� College Union in their cars. 

With full cast Zoom rehearsals to sort out show logistics, actors—a mixed cohort of �ʼһ��� students, Winthrop students and local artists—worked independently in pairs to create and rehearse their skits. 

“The pandemic has shown us that we don’t always have to do work in a building. We have the capacity and imagination to do work in other ways,” Kaliski said of the future of �ʼһ���’s theatre productions. 

The lessons learned from the novel production paved the way for the department’s following fall semester drive-thru show “Ubi Orta Pestilentia: A �ʼһ��� Zombie Apocalypse,” co-directed by Kaliski and his students.

 

Informal Connections

Professor Maggie McCarthy began the year by emailing students enrolled in her “Intro to Film & Media Studies” course a series of short videos from the comfort of her couch.

She shared a show she liked, Atlanta, as well as an online analysis of one of its episodes, asking students to reply with their own favorites.   &�Բ�����;

“Doing this is a way to begin building individual bonds with students,” said McCarthy, who, in a typical year, relied on the classroom space to facilitate that process. 

McCarthy coordinates the Film & Media Studies department. For her, a class community where students can be themselves is essential for discussing visual culture. 

“What are you watching right now? What’s rocking your world?” She had students address these questions in a new assignment called “Watch-Klatsch.” Once a week, they gathered in small groups outside of class to talk informally about course material as well as something they’d watched and how they felt about it.  

“Emotions can be a really good launch pad for analysis,” she said. 

Her goal was a stress-free way for students to connect, without the pressure to sound smart. 

“The upside of online teaching is the intimacy of seeing a professor at home,” she said. “I think it’s something I’m going to keep doing because it softens things in a good way.”

Read more on how students and faculty were encouraged to explore and innovate through �ʼһ��� Arts & Creative Engagement grants.