During this project seventh grade students and I collaborated to accomplish the goal of building a relationship between the seventh and fifth grades so the younger students could feel safe and welcome at our school. I used a teaching approach based on the elements of adventure and the experiential cycle of learning to help seventh grade students develop leadership skills. Team building activities and a community adventure brought the seventh and fifth graders together. The leadership role of the seventh graders during these events served as the catalyst for building a positive caring relationship between the two grades.

My final creative project explores research about what makes a successful community theater and tracks development leading a theater troupe in my hometown of Great Falls, Montana. In my lifetime, three theaters began, thrived and perished in Great Falls. The Green Room, Center Stage and Summer Musicale started as little more than groups of friends who loved theater putting up a show. All three experienced success for several years. However, all three eventually crumbled. Before I built my own troupe, I needed to spend some time planning and learning how to avoid what my predecessors failed to do. I examined my involvement and experiences with these three companies. My reflection, discussions with other theater members, and investigation revealed that lack of experience, inadequate financial understanding and low standards of quality contributed to each of their demises. Following reflection on these companies, I gained insight into what makes a successful theater by interviewing community members who are familiar with theater organizations and the community of Great Falls. With their input and my own reflections I then researched what the experts had to say on the subject. These experts either started their own now prospering companies or they consult with theater companies on how to make an organization better. Equipped with the knowledge from all of these resources, I formulated my own plan to produce quality theater in Great Falls I established the beginnings of a theater organization to produce creative work.

published_or_final_version / Mechanical Engineering / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

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The ACCEPT Project: Social Justice Art and Education Chairperson: Jillian Campana Co-Chairperson: Karen Kaufmann The ACCEPT Project is an entity that I created out of a need to use art, and specifically theatre, in a meaningful manner beyond entertainment. I found myself inspired by artists who were using their craft to induce social change, so I sought to do likewise. The ACCEPT Project stands for Acting/Art Creates, Challenges, and Enlarges Pro-Human Truths. The information that follows documents my journey to discover a means to the ends of art for social justice and the results which came from that action. As an educator, I have included ways to utilize this concept in a classroom setting, and I am continuing my work on the educational implementation of The ACCEPT Project.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--New York University, School of Education. / Also on film. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1960. / Typescript. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaf 30).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--New York University, School of Education. / Also on film.