Read featured selections from Writing about the Performing Arts at Ohio State, an interdisciplinary student-led project supported by the Ronald and Deborah Ratner Distinguished Teaching Award. In this yearlong initiative, students from departments across the university will respond to the center’s 2019–20 performing arts season. 

With guidance from Department of Dance Professor Karen Eliot, Manager of Public University Programs Alana Ryder, and Director of Performing Arts Lane Czaplinski, students with backgrounds in biology, classics, creative writing, dance, math, neuropsychology, political science, and beyond will serve as ambassadors and advocates for the arts. They will experience the challenges of writing for the public, accessibility to contemporary art, and the development of observational, analytical, and critical thinking skills. Students will apply dance and performing arts history, theory, and current discourse to guide the public through themes such as identity, cultural appropriation, and disability.

This campus partnership will culminate in a student-driven print publication that will contain essays, reflections, criticism, and interviews, some of which will be available online and in program notes. The students’ writing will help steer audiences toward more illuminated and critical engagement with contemporary art.

>>> Read featured selections from Writing about the Performing Arts at Ohio State