Introduction

Abstract

At the publishing of New Directions in Teaching Theatre Arts, the twenty-first century is nearly two decades old, with higher education marching to the ever-changing beat of technological advances, financial challenges, public demands, increasing interjections of social media constructs, and changing dynamics in its student and faculty populations. The faces of our campus constituents have changed significantly to include greater diversity of many types, producing a heightened mix of cohorts. For example, in addition to greater racial and ethnic diversity, institutions are enrolling more international students, students with special learning needs, and students with fluid gender identities. Along with increased diversity of the student body, twenty-first-century students bring varying interests and ways of learning into the classroom. Members of Generation Z (the iGen, #digitalnatives), have had digital devices as a regular part of lives since birth. Generations Y and Z continually challenge Baby Boomer and Generation X faculty to rethink pedagogies and learning environments that would better respond to Y and Z attention spans, modes of interaction, and concerns about communities and culture. These new faces and aforementioned forces of change are forcing those of us in higher education to become much more innovative in our teaching of theatre arts courses.