Developing a Multicultural Theatre Undergraduate Program for the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico: a Professional Problem Dissertation
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DEVELOPING A MULTICULTURAL THEATRE UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAM FOR THE COMMONWEALTH OF PUERTO RICO: A PROFESSIONAL PROBLEM DISSERTATION By Teddy Alexis Rodríguez-Vélez, B.S., M.S. Dissertation In FINE ARTS / THEATRE Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Texas Tech University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Approved Chair: William Gelber, Ph.D. Ed Check, Ph.D. Janis Elliott, Ph.D. Bruce Hermann, M.F.A. Melissa Merz, M.F.A. Accepted Dominick Casadonte Interim Dean of the Graduate School May 2013 © 2013, Teddy Alexis Rodríguez-Vélez Texas Tech University, Teddy Alexis Rodríguez-Vélez, May 2013 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First, I would like to thank my family, my mother Marta, my father Teddy and my sister Martita for the unconditional support and love. Without them in my life I would have been very difficult for me to succeed. Also, I want to thank Gerald Dolter, Kyla Olson and the Lubbock Moonlight Musicals company for giving me an artistic outlet during my stay in Lubbock, Texas. Special thanks for their help and support goes to Sherry R. Boyd, Leslie Gulden, Sandy Brimer, Jeanne Haggard, Ryan Johnson, Marla Britton-Johnson, Shari Watterston Ellsworth, C.D. Adamson, Carlos Madrid, Bryanne Velarde, Nicholas Halder, Page Petrucka, Stuart Williams, Eleazar B. Singleterry, David Austin Gutierrez, Hanna Lynn Andrews, Juliana Maité Irizarry and Yaireska M. Collado- Vega, whose friendships are of unparalleled value to me. I want to thank the Physics Department of the Texas Tech University, Dr. Beth Thacker and Dr. Keith West for keeping me employed for four years and making it possible for me to finish this degree. Additionally, I would like to thank my dissertation committee Dr. Gelber, Dr. Check, Dr. Elliott, Prof. Hermann and Prof. Merz for their help, advice and time devoted to this project. Finally, special thanks to Dr. Roberto Ramos-Perea and the Archivo Nacional de Puerto Rico (“National Archive of Puerto Rico”) for their help. ii Texas Tech University, Teddy Alexis Rodríguez-Vélez, May 2013 TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................................................................. ii ABSTRACT .............................................................................................................. vi I. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................... 1 The Melting Pot .................................................................................................. 3 Achievement Gap ..................................................................................................................... 3 Preparing the Educator for Multicultural Education ........................................... 4 Theatre Arts Curricula ........................................................................................ 5 II. PUERTO RICAN BACKGROUND ........................................................................ 12 Puerto Rican History ......................................................................................... 12 Spanish Colony Era ................................................................................................................ 13 U.S. Territory Era ................................................................................................................... 15 Education in Puerto Rico .................................................................................. 18 The Beginning of Education in Puerto Rico .......................................................................... 18 U.S. Policies for Puerto Rican Education .............................................................................. 18 Theatre Education in Puerto Rico ..................................................................... 19 Development of the Puerto Rican Theatre ........................................................ 22 III. THE PROGRAM ............................................................................................... 28 Multicultural Education in Theatre ................................................................... 31 Non-Traditional Casting ................................................................................... 31 Curriculum Inclusion ........................................................................................ 32 Building a Learning Communitiy .......................................................................................... 33 Collaboration .......................................................................................................................... 34 What is Collaboration? ........................................................................................................... 34 Developing Aesthetics Awareness ......................................................................................... 34 Creating the Educational Experiences ................................................................................... 36 Selecting the Material and Experiences ................................................................................. 38 Eliminating the Curricular Biases .......................................................................................... 39 Designing the Courses ............................................................................................................ 39 Types of Learners ................................................................................................................... 40 Support Staff ..................................................................................................... 50 How to Implement Multicultural Education ..................................................... 51 iii Texas Tech University, Teddy Alexis Rodríguez-Vélez, May 2013 IV. COLOR-CONSCIOUS CASTING AND THE NEW RACISM ................................. 53 Societal Casting of Death of a Salesman .......................................................... 55 Cross-cultural Casting of Death of a Salesman ................................................ 55 Conceptual Casting of Death of a Salesman ..................................................... 55 Blind-casting of Death of a Salesman ............................................................... 56 On Dialects ........................................................................................................ 56 The New Racism ............................................................................................... 60 Color-blind Racism ................................................................................................................ 60 Microaggressions ................................................................................................................... 64 Discussing Race in the Classroom .................................................................... 69 Colour-conscious Casting ................................................................................. 70 How to Implement Non-Traditional Casting .................................................... 72 Designing the School’s Season Offering .......................................................... 73 V. APPLYING MULTICULTURAL EDUCATION TO THEATRE EDUCATION ........... 77 Demographics of the Classroom ....................................................................... 77 Pedagogy of the Class: Implementing Multicultural Education ...................... 79 Introduction to the Class ........................................................................................................ 79 Unit #1: Introduction to Multiculturalism .............................................................................. 79 Evaluation #1 ......................................................................................................................... 80 Unit #2: Non-traditional Casting ............................................................................................ 80 Evaluation #2 ......................................................................................................................... 81 Developing a New Theatre Canon ......................................................................................... 81 Evaluation #3 ......................................................................................................................... 82 Unit #3: Multicultural Education in Theatre .......................................................................... 82 Evaluation #4 ......................................................................................................................... 83 Evaluation #5: Final Projects ................................................................................................. 83 Pedagogy of the Class: Analysis in Terms of the Theory of Cognitive Types . 83 Unit #1: Intro. to Multiculturalism in Terms of the Theory of Cognitive Types ................... 85 Evaluation #1in Terms of the Theory of the Cognitive Types ............................................... 88 Unit #2: Non-traditional Casting in Terms of the Theory of Cognitive Types ...................... 89 Evaluation #2 in Terms of the Theory of Cognitive Types ................................................... 90 Unit #3: Multicultural Education in Theatre in Terms of the Theory of Cognitive Types .... 91 Evaluation #3 in Terms of the Theory of Cognitive Types ................................................... 94 iv Texas Tech University, Teddy Alexis Rodríguez-Vélez, May