Theatre and liberal arts in Christian higher education : a qualitative study
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The relationship between theatre and higher education has long been examined by researchers. However, Christian higher education and its relationship to theatre presents an area that has gone largely unexamined. Authors such as Nancy Kindelan and Jonathan Levy have done an excellent job addressing issues between theatre and higher education. Likewise, Mark Lewis and M. Elizabeth Lewis Hall have opened a conversation surrounding theatre in Christian higher education. However, there is still a lack of exploration of theatre and liberal arts curriculum across the wider realm of Christian higher education. This study discusses how theatre departments engage and interact with Christian higher education in a broader context. Utilizing interviews conducted with current theatre department chairs at Christian institutions across the United States, an understanding of how theatre department chairs experience and navigate Christian higher education is developed. By means of coding and narrative analysis, ten themes are developed and explored. Chapter 1: Introduction explores the existing literature and introduces the topic and gap in scholarship. The methodological approach is laid out in Chapter 2: Methodology. The eight interviews collected are outlined and discussed in Chapter 3: Individual Narratives. Chapter 4: Findings develops the ten themes that were drawn out. Using narrative analysis and critical theory, Chapter 5: Discussion and Implications explores the implications of the study and discusses possibilities for future research. In a society challenged by Christian nationalism and a discipline seen as distrustful and dangerous, the perspectives and stories of theatre department chairs in Christian higher education provide a critical view into Christian higher education and how it engages the theatre as an academic discipline and profession.
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Ph. D.