May 26, 2021
Improv Showcase closes inaugural ‘Reflection Project’ course
![A poster announces an improv showcase event.](https://arts.psu.edu/assets/uploads/news/_860xAUTO_fit_center-center_80_none/Image-for-Improv-Showcase-cropped-poster_Fotor.jpg)
“When applying for the funding, we needed to reflect on the phrase ‘We Are,’” McCloskey said. “So I wanted us to practice together what does it mean to be with different people and to also have a sense of community at the same time. It’s kind of an experiment in that — how can we use improv theater to just get better at living together.”“Andrea was the perfect choice to develop the first-ever Mellon-funded course,” center Audience and Program Development Director Amy Dupain Vashaw said. “Giving an academic the chance to combine her teaching with one of her other passions — in this case, improv performance — was so gratifying, as well as fun to see how she incorporated the performing arts into the class.” The coursework featured virtual engagements related to programs scheduled for the center’s upcoming seasons, including artists from the Small Island Big Song collective and the stage works “Fandango for Butterflies (and Coyotes)” and “Cartography.” Penn State faculty gathered in mid-April to discuss next steps to instructors who are developing courses for the 2021–22 fall and spring semesters. Courses funded by the Mellon Foundation to be developed this summer for fall instruction are:
- “Climate Change and Storytelling,” a nursing course taught by College of Nursing Assistant Research Professor Erin Kitt-Lewis aimed at linking climate change and its effects on health, and being developed in conjunction with School of Theatre Professor Bill Doan;
- “Performance 360,” taught by College of Arts and Architecture Associate Professor Jeanmarie Higgins and College of the Liberal Arts Professor Jonathan Eburne, asking students to reflect on the performing arts as a cultural and expressionistic practice and product for tourism;
- “Perspectives on Aging / Lighter as We Go,” a College of Health and Human Development course by Assistant Research Professor Amy Lorek, will encourage intergenerational interaction as a way to link lived experience and humanity; and
- “Creativity in the Art of Human Flourishing,” to be developed and taught by Molly Countermine, associate teaching professor of human development and family studies, will be designed to explore the roles of aesthetic experience, the arts, and creativity in personal and collective flourishing.
![A poster announces an improv showcase event.](https://arts.psu.edu/assets/uploads/news/_680xAUTO_fit_center-center_80_none/Image-for-Improv-Showcase-cropped-poster_Fotor.jpg)
Unit Research:
Center for Pedagogy in Arts and Design
Unit Outreach:
Center for the Performing Arts