Show Me, Don't Tell Me: A Look At Theatre Makers of Today and Tomorrow, 2022

"I found my way to my thesis topic by starting with a subject that constantly occupies space in my thoughts: impact. I was born with something I call "detrimental empathy." It is a condition in which I have so much empathy for the people and things around me that it impacts my ability to interact with the world. For example, I cannot read or watch the news because if I hear or see something sad, I will cry and obsess over it for days. When I'm driving, I brake for animals in the street no matter how much danger this action puts me in. And I have social anxiety because I am terrified I will say something to someone that will hurt their feelings or upset them. Essentially, I navigate the world swaddled in imaginary bubble wrap. As someone training to be a teacher, I spend many days and nights thinking about the possible impact that I could have on the young people I teach. While my detrimental empathy may make me feel like a horrible person for accidentally stepping on a bug, it makes me an excellent candidate for a career in education. I am constantly thinking about the impact that I have on my students. Therefore, when the time came to choose a thesis topic, the concept of impact is where my mind immediately went. The question I chose to ask is a fundamental one in education: what is the impact that a teacher has on their students? Specifically, I chose to study theatre teachers who teach theatre for social justice. After I decided on my research question, I had another question to focus on: how did I want to present this research? In life I have many passions, but three loves that rule them all — theatre, education, and art. Theatre and education I found later in life, but art has always been one of the easiest means that I have to express myself. What started as basic stick figures and finger painting, has flourished throughout my life as a language that I use to make what is inside of me, outside. I've never studied visual art formally other than middle school art classes and one community college course I took in high school, but I've always been able to create. I view this as one of the greatest gifts I have been given, and I hope that I can use it to make an impact with my thesis findings. Of all the things I've learned at Emerson College, I consider the most important thing I've learned to be that every person, every learner, has a different way in which they are intelligent. I've learned that so many people go through life thinking that they are not smart, just because they have difficulty communicating in the intelligences that primarily rule the education system. At this college, I was given the opportunity to use visual art as a means of educational expression — something that I was never given before. I aim to give this opportunity to every student — every person — that I meet. Because of this valuable experience, I chose to use the language of visual arts to communicate my thesis findings. In my research, I interviewed three teachers and ten students. I wanted to find out how these teachers impact their students. Does their passion for social justice inspire passion in their students? For each interview, I created a portrait in which I aimed to communicate the essence of who the subject is as a creator and a human. I hope that I was able to represent all of their beautiful complexities — the things they're passionate about, the art forms that they specialize in, their intersection with issues of social justice, and the way that they interact with the world around them. Most importantly, I hope that the portraits demonstrate that everyone has an impact. And in the case of these humans, the impact is positive." -- Introduction