I returned to school to receive an MFA in Musical Theater for many reasons, but paramount was the need to further explore and develop my range as an actress. Throughout my career, I have played a variety of roles, but none as challenging or possibly as rewarding as the man-hungry secretary UCharlieV in James Valcq5s Zombies from the Beyond, produced by the Jester Theatre in Winter Garden, FL. Performing this role allowed me to achieve one of my objectives when entering the grad program at UCF: to transition from a classical ingénue or soubrette into a leading lady or character actress; making Zombies from the Beyond the perfect capstone to my graduate experience. During the 1950s, American cinema was filled with sci-fi movies such as Forbidden Planet, The Thing from Another World, and Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Each movie depicted an otherworldly creature as the villain (a metaphor for the relationship between the United States and the USSR) who had only one purpose: total domination. Zombies from the Beyond aptly reveals the absurdity of the hysteria and paranoia surrounding the Ucold warV and the Uspace raceV that dominated America in the 1950s. The play makes comic use of the Udouble-red agentV and presents the belief that the space race and cold war inevitably were tied together, while examining Russia5s dirty tactics in the struggle for power. In addition to the historical ramifications of Zombies from the Beyond, post WWII America saw an explosive growth in female empowerment. Through each female iv character5s thoughts and actions on stage, Valcq5s musical tackles the struggle many women faced between the new feminist ideals and old-fashioned morals. My character, Charlene UCharlieV Osmanski, is the iconic man-hungry, working girl with a big heart (aka UThe SidekickV). She is a woman very much caught between the traditional values of the 1950s and the progressive, more feminist attitudes starting to take hold in the country. After accepting the role in Zombies from the Beyond, I realized my responsibility was to breathe new life into the role of the comedic sidekick while remaining true to the original vision and traditions that had been set forth by such brave comic pioneers as Rose-Marie, Thelma Ritter, and Vivian Vance. Faced with this daunting task and the enormity of creating a role with such a prominent historical and societal lineage, I asked myself, UWhat does an actor need to know in order to become the perfect sidekick?V To answer this compelling question and to ensure I did not fail in my task, I researched actresses who play a similar archetype; studied the evolution of the female comedienne; examined the audience5s relationship to the sidekick; and discussed the character5s future as an integral force in contemporary theatre, all in a convenient survival guide. Ultimately, the evolution of the mainstream audience and their shifting requirements for entertainment impact the sidekick5s portrayal on stage; however, since post-modernistic audiences no longer need one definitive stereotype or archetypal character, the ideas I set forth are not finite or absolute in nature. Instead, they create a v basic foundation that serves as a guide for the actor when creating a similar character while ensuring the sidekick5s place as a relevant and sustainable character for generations to come.

Educators employing process drama, a non-presentational dramatic form, establish memorable classroom environments where students co-author their learning with teachers. Process drama facilitators often use the dramatic structure of teacher-in-role to guide and support the students. An instructor heightens tension, introduces new ideas, and encourages participation by engaging alongside students as a character. An educator employing process drama needs to determine the appropriate type of role to impact the development of a classroom drama; while negotiating tension felt between desires for student-led discovery and the necessity of meeting curriculum benchmarks. Academic studies establish process drama as a tool to aid English Students of Other Languages or ESOL classrooms. Process drama heightens comprehension, whole language usage and ownership of learning. Using the methodology of reflective practice I analyzed my teaching in role to determine how I negotiate diverse and conflicting objectives. I facilitated a six week process drama with four to six-year-old ESOL students at a learning centre in Hong Kong. This study improved this teacher’s understanding and usage of teacher-in-role. The ideals of a process centered classroom were not always realized, but the needs of the population necessitated adaption from expectations. The experiences of the researcher indicate ambiguous character may not be the best way to motivate dialogue among this population of ESOL students. Students’ age and English experience suggests using co-participant characters whose motivations are clearly defined. This study contributes to the discussion on what differing "role iv types" offer facilitators of process drama and how it may be used to meet demands of curriculum including development of performances. Process drama with very young students presents a field for further research investigating methods and practices to effectively structure process dramas that address their learning.

Comedy has typically been derided as second-tier to drama in all aspects of narrative. Throughout history, comedy has seen short shrift in both critical reception and academic investigation. Merit is simply placed on drama far before that of comedy. This is not for comedy’s own lack of skill or craft, but simply for comedy’s misappropriation as a narrative form. Throughout the years, by way of either competition or economic superiority, comedy has been pigeonholed into the typified dramatic structure that drama so thoroughly encapsulates. Being forced into a form that exemplifies complex, climactic structure and explicit character development, comedy in its purest form has suffered through the ages. Gertrude Stein’s theory of Landscape Drama, and, more specifically, immediacy, is best attuned to comedy in its truest form. Comedy does not require sweeping character development, obtuse narrative design, or fantastic spectacle to produce superior works of art. Comedy, when compared to drama, exists best in a much more punctuated format. Stein’s theories, while never intended for comedy, align absolutely perfectly with the comedic genre’s design. And epitomized through long form improv on the stage, and the newly-fashioned digital short made profitable by the proliferation of the internet and digital culture, comedy’s purest form has become more readily available as narrative has progressed throughout history. With this thesis, I intend to display the disparity between comedy and drama due to comedy’s misallotment into a format that does not properly encapsulate it to its most fulfilling embodiment. Through this display, I seek to uncover the debt done to the comedic form from centuries of neglect in academic query and merit in order to best prove comedy’s need for ii critical scrutiny. Further, in doing so I hope to better construe a community of comedic research and criticism in order to create better art and more diverse comedic offerings.

Den föreliggande undersökningen har gjorts i syfte att undersöka förskollärares förhållningssätt och erfarenheter av arbete med metoden lågaffektivt bemötande gentemot barn med utagerande beteenden i förskolan. Med ett vidare syfte att undersöka vilka strategier och metoder förskollärare använder för att förebygga utagerande beteenden. Undersökningen har med stöd av beteendeteori tillämpats för att få en förståelse för vikten av förstärkning bland annat positiv förstärkning i barnets ageranden. Individperspektivet har även tillämpats för att skapa en förståelse för vikten av att se individen i en hel barngrupp och därmed ge ett individanpassat stöd för barnets utveckling. Ett utagerande beteende kan uppstå när barnet inte har verktyg till att reglera sina känslor. Förskollärare behöver vara lyhörda för att identifiera barnets behov. Undersökningen grundar sig på en kvalitativ metod med semistrukturerade intervjuer med åtta förskollärare på fem olika förskolor i två län. Det insamlade materialet har analyserats där teman och underteman synliggjorts.   Resultatet i undersökningen visar att förskollärare anser att lågaffektivt bemötande är ett förhållningssätt som används till vardags och inte en metod som används i vissa situationer. Lågaffektivt bemötande är ett förhållningssätt som innebär att lugnt bekräfta och bemöta barns känslor, för att hjälpa barnet att få förståelsen för varför känslorna uppkommit. Vidare visar resultatet strategier och metoder som förskollärarna använder för att ge barnet en överblick över sin vardag i förskolan. Exempelvis genom bildstöd, tecken som stöd och böcker. Bildstöd används bland annat för att ge stöttning, förstärkning och tydlighet i förståelsen för vad som ska hända och vad som förväntas av dem. Miljön är en viktig faktor i barnens vardag, den behöver vara strukturerad för att ge barnen möjligheten till en avvägd dag.

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This thesis is an artefact documenting the process of adapting a late medieval painting of hell into a short horror film. The process of adapting the Three Mouths of Hell, housed within the Hours of Catherine of Cleves, serves as an experiment in applying a dramaturgical approach to medieval studies. The process of adaptation and production, informed by critical research about the Hours of Catherine of Cleves and its Three Mouths of Hell, yields new frameworks for understanding the history of Catherine of Cleves, her Book of Hours, and the Three Mouths of Hell.

In der Rubrik „Nachgefragt/Wiederentdeckt“ steht der Artikel „Bezahlte Nächstenliebe. Zur Struktur sozialpädagogischen Handelns“ (1984) von Thomas Rauschenbach im Zentrum eines wissenschaftlichen Gesprächs. / The article by Thomas Rauschenbach (1984) “Bezahlte Nächstenliebe. Zur Struktur sozialpädagogischen Handelns” (Paid Charity. On the Structure of Social Pedagogical Action) is the focus of an academic discussion in the section “Nachgefragt/Wiederentdeckt” (Inquired/Rediscovered).

This thesis explores three main questions: (1) How is diversity and equity in education in Manitoban schools addressed and does this include mixed-raced students?, (2) What are mixed-race students’ experiences with and perceptions of ethnocultural equity in the Manitoban secondary school system and how do these experiences impact their personal and collective identities in the following areas: Social (relationships with peers and family members), Political (notions of Canadian identity and citizenship), Identity (sense of cultural and racial identity and social positioning), Cultural (influences of related cultural groups and communities), and Pedagogical (instructional materials, relationships with teachers and staff, teaching practices and pedagogies, school policies and initiatives) and (3) What can educators and teacher-educators learn from this research that could be used toward a more informed and successful practice? Conclusions are that more work needs to be done to develop a provincial antiracism and ethnocultural policy document for development and implementation that will help establish a system of accountability and consistency, assist our leaders in understanding the complexities of mixedness, establish relationships with different relevant community groups and families, critically examine the curricula for bias, investigate student placement, provide opportunities for counselling staff, explore how to prepare staff to deal with racial and ethnocultural harassment, and consider the representation of mixedness in the staff population. / February 2017