Though the pandemic has forced students everywhere to reimagine the start of the fall semester, the Theatre and Dance Undergraduate Advisory Council (UAC), with the help of our brilliant faculty, facilitated a warm welcome for incoming and returning Longhorns. To accommodate today’s virtual world, the UAC planned a week of digital events to introduce incoming students to the department, culminating in this year’s Convocation. In a video circulated to all undergraduate and graduate students, the UAC compiled introductions and words of encouragement from faculty in all areas of the department. Along with providing descriptions of their areas of study, the faculty communicated their belief in the resilience and adaptability of the strong community of artists that populate the F. Loren Winship Drama Building.
The fall semester started with a collection of virtual events developed by the UAC to welcome incoming students and help them get a sense of life in the department. On Monday, August 24, each cohort met with their respective areas via Zoom to get to know their fellow students and faculty members, followed by a larger meeting on Tuesday, where they were introduced to department faculty and given a Zoom tutorial from associate professor of acting Lucien Douglas. Later in the week, the UAC hosted a virtual game night and movie night, giving students a chance to decompress after the start of classes and to spend time with their peers. All of this led up to a virtual Convocation, sent out to all students to officially kickoff the beginning of a new semester.
Created by the UAC and integrated media designer John Erickson, this year’s Convocation video opened with a nostalgic, stylized intro, featuring fun transitions with upbeat music and colorful designs. Department chair Robert Ramirez extended a heartfelt welcome to all incoming and returning students, voicing his sadness that he won’t get to run into each of them in the hallways of Winship for a while. He also shared updates on the 2020/2021 season and classroom procedures, as well as his excitement at seeing how each student will help change and mold the world of theatre post-COVID-19, saying “I think that if we dig inside each of ourselves, we’ll be able to find what we need to not only just survive this and make it through this, but to thrive inside of it.”
Other faculty members made appearances, speaking on the various areas and opportunities available within the department, interspersed with montages depicting student life. KJ Sanchez introduced the Playwriting/Directing program, encouraging students to forge connections with their peers every chance they get. Katie Dawson and Sara Simons spoke about the Drama and Theatre for Youth and Communities / UTeach Theatre area, touching on the impact that arts educators have on young minds. Quetta Carpenter and Lucien Douglas introduced the acting department, while Bill Bloodgood described the role of UT Live Design in cultivating visual designers and Rusty Cloyes welcomed undergraduates, sharing the many ways that he would work with them in the years to come.
Beyond descriptions, these faculty members shared their deep connection to the department as a family and community and their belief in the abilities and forward-thinking mentality of each student artist. Dance faculty members Charles O. Anderson and Dorothy O’Shea Overbey welcomed all students as new and essential members of the Theatre and Dance family. Patrick Shaw shared words of encouragement during this challenging moment for the entertainment industry saying, “I believe that healthy communities adapt. I think that we have a beautiful community in our Winship building, in the theatre and dance department, and … I think that, frankly, you and your generation are more equipped to create work for this moment than my generation or the generations above us. So, I’m here to learn from you just as you are to learn from us.” His sentiments were echoed in the statements made by other faculty members as they prepared students for the coming years of learning and flourishing within the Department of Theatre and Dance.
Despite the semester beginning under unconventional circumstances, the UAC and faculty took steps to welcome students any way they could to help build the sense of community that has meant so much to so many in the Theatre and Dance community. Acknowledging the anxiety that many of our students are facing due to the pandemic and the beginning of school, they banded together to support and embolden our newest longhorns as they begin their time on the 40 Acres. As Lucien Douglas shared, “We’re creative artists and we continually reinvent ourselves and eagerly embrace the challenge of doing old things in very new ways.”
Though the world of theatre will likely look different from here on, it is the brilliance of our students as they use this challenge to create new innovations that will see the arts through to the other side of this pandemic. In this way, the virtual start of the fall semester marked the beginning of years of important growth for each student as they strive to change the world around them.