Artistic Literacy in Action

Abstract

While there is considerable debate over whether drama and theatre contribute to social change, theatre studies programs do a great deal to help students identify social questions and engage in learning moral responsibility. In theatre, civic engagement begins with the dramaturgical explorations of scripts and culminates in the performance of plays. Theatre study is not complete until the plays that are read are performed or experienced in the theatre. The productions (which become case studies that illuminate some facet of human interaction) give a real purpose to learning, and thus the learning is intentional. Theatre activities can elicit transformative experiences and help advance social responsibility by developing informed, empowered, and responsible learners. A theatre program’s high-impact curricular and pedagogical practices develop Liberal Education and America’s Promise (LEAP) essential learning outcomes by encouraging cross-departmental connections, improving problem-solving skills through active rather than passive learning, and enriching cultural understanding and civic responsibility through problem-based inquiry—the study of plays and performances.

Acts of interpretation enable individuals to discern the work in relation to the cultural and social worlds it mirrors. Moreover, the relation between artwork and culture is reciprocal. That is, the work of art becomes meaningful when it is seen in the context of the culture, and the culture becomes understandable as read through its arts. For this reason I suggest that the places where the integration of knowledge is maximized lay in works of art as keys to understanding. This also suggests that the arts should be centrally located within the curriculum as an overlapping domain.

Arthur D. Efland (2002)