Professor Presented at Theatre Conference

Dr. Scott Mackenzie, Westminster College associate professor of theatre, attended the Association of Theatre in Higher Education (ATHE) conference Aug. 8-11 in New York, where he presented a paper as part of a panel on "Risking Innovation: Using Community-Based Performance and Deriving Strategies for Production and Course Development."

After attending the ATHE conference last year, Mackenzie was inspired to create a course in Theatre and Social Engagement for Westminster's fall 2009 semester. His paper, "Derived Drama to Devised Theatre: First Steps toward Community-Based Theatre in a Liberal Arts Curriculum," described Mackenzie's process and inspirations for developing the new course.

Theatre and Social Engagement is one component of the Performing Peace cluster course Mackenzie is teaching with Dr. Sherri Pataki, Westminster assistant professor of psychology. In Pataki's Peace Studies Conflict Resolution seminar, students will engage with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948, focusing specifically on Article 25, which addresses homelessness and poverty.

"The students' research in Dr. Pataki's class will provide the base on which to build two devised theatre pieces," Mackenzie said. "Where the Peace Studies seminar will explore social issues through traditional research methods, Theatre and Social Engagement will expand on those explorations through creative theatre games and improvisational exercises. This will lead to an opportunity for students to create a play and raise awareness of the issues examined."

Mackenzie, who has been with Westminster since 2001, earned an undergraduate degree from the University of Texas at Dallas, master of fine arts from Michigan State University, and Ph.D. from Wayne State University.

Pataki, who joined the Westminster faculty in 2004, earned an undergraduate degree from Allegheny College and Ph.D. from Carnegie Mellon University.

Contact Mackenzie at (724) 946-6238 or e-mail mackensa@westminster.edu for additional information.

Dr. Scott Mackenzie