FEATURED COURSE: BLACK BOX
About
Based on a course originated by my former professor DD Kugler, I founded Black Box at the University of Windsor as an intensive creation-laboratory designed to expand the School of Dramatic Art’s offerings in new performance creation while grounding artistic practice in civic responsibility. Structured around rapid-response devising, collaborative authorship, and community-engaged inquiry, the course trains emerging theatre makers to interrogate the purpose of theatre-making and its relationship to place.
PEDAGOGY
Central to the pedagogy is a commitment to moving land acknowledgement toward action: students are encouraged to consider whose stories are being told, how they are told, and who is in the room. Through sustained dialogue and collaboration with Indigenous students in the class, and through projects that respond to local community needs and histories, Black Box positions creation as an ethical, relational practice.
PROCESS
The course provides a rigorous, process-driven environment where students generate original material, test ideas in front of audiences, and develop an embodied understanding of how performance can both reflect and intervene in cultural and civic conversations. As a new initiative in Windsor’s evolving curriculum, the aim of Black Box is to foster adaptable, socially engaged artists capable of leading creation-based work across artistic, educational, and community contexts.
