Theatre major relishes chance to teach thanks to new Penn State program

By Madison Ridge Penn State’s Students Teaching Students (STS) program is bridging the gap between student and professor, and School of Theatre senior Frederick Miller is taking advantage of the opportunity for the second semester in a row. He developed Theatre 297, American Musical Theatre History: 9/11 to COVID-19, which he will teach for the second time in spring 2022. In the STS program, undergraduates have the opportunity to personalize their college learning experience by creating unique, 1–3-credit interdisciplinary courses. The program was founded in spring 2020 by Josie Krieger, then a junior in the College of the Liberal Arts, and Michael Miller, a Penn State alumnus. “[In fall 2020] I saw the call for applications while I was alone in my dorm room during COVID, with nothing other than my books to keep me company,” Frederick Miller said. “I was reading a lot about musical theatre history and started drawing parallels between our current moment and what happened post-9/11 in our country. I created the course that I wanted to take.” Miller is currently a senior working towards a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre Studies with an emphasis in dramaturgy and a Bachelor of Arts in Comparative Literature with an emphasis in drama. He taught Theatre 297 for the first time in spring 2021—remotely from his childhood bedroom in Mechanicsburg, Pa.—in what was a “full circle” experience. The course includes an in-depth look into the parallels between life now and life 20 years ago, with themes such as representations of Black lives, queer lives, Latinx lives, mental health, and more. “For this course, I came up with a series of themes that I felt either emerged or were strengthened in the 21st century and paired them with a musical,” Miller said. “It is structured chronologically, starting with pre-9/11 and ‘Contact,’ and ending with COVID-19 and ‘Jagged Little Pill.’” When it was created in spring of 2020, the STS program, much like the rest of the world, was operating virtually. While the online offering in spring 2021 was a great first step for Miller, he said he is thrilled to be able to continue teaching American musical theatre history, but this time in a real classroom. “This coming spring, I am teaching the same course again, live and in person, just the way theatre ought to be,” Miller said. “The syllabus is being expanded to accommodate the two-day-a-week format, which is perfect considering last spring we always wanted more time to continue our discussions.” Miller plans to apply to graduate school to pursue studies in dramaturgy and dramatic criticism and hopes to find work as a theatre critic, historian, or literary agent. He said the Penn State STS program has confirmed his own love for drama and the theatrical arts, and his desire to teach professionally at the college level in the future. “As a dramaturg, I am always looking for ways to bring theatre to our community, and this class brings together so many Penn Staters from different paths to talk about art,” Miller said. “What could be better than that?”