STEM, Theatre Arts, and Interdisciplinary Integrative Learning

Abstract

“This wide-ranging and masterful book…is necessary and urgent reading not only for those people in theatre arts and STEM fields in a liberal arts context, but indeed for everyone with an interest and an investment in the future of STEM, Arts, and Humanities tertiary education worldwide.” —Joshua Abrams, Deputy Director, The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts and Past President, Association for Theatre in Higher Education “Kindelan offers a call to action and practical roadmap for educators interested in forging connections between STEM and theater arts fields. The book’s compelling firsthand narratives are icing on the cake, offering implementation examples and testaments to the many ways that disciplinary boundary crossing inspires and empowers both students and teachers.” —Robert Martello, Professor, Olin College of Engineering, USA “Integrative interdisciplinary learning has been a goal of higher education but is complex to understand and challenging to implement. Kindelan offers a comprehensive and highly readable overview that will guide educators as they reflect on these issues and plan and assess reform efforts taking place on individual campuses.” —Nancy Budwig, Professor, Clark University, USA This book responds to challenging questions about holistic curricular realignment, especially how a more porous approach to higher education reduces the impact of a “siloed” curriculum, lessens the tendency toward the fragmentation of knowledge, allows for the development of cross-disciplinary explorations, and promotes new approaches to knowledge and creativity through interdisciplinary integrative learning. In doing so, Kindelan advances discussions about integrative interdisciplinary education between STEM and the fields of performance and performance technologies that have been either overlooked or underdeveloped. Nancy Kindelan is Professor Emerita of Theatre at Northeastern University, Boston, USA, where she directed plays and taught numerous interdisciplinary courses, honors courses, script analysis and performance classes. She is the founding editor of the Palgrave Macmillan book series The Arts in Higher Education.