(1998) Assistant Professor of Theatre, Hutchins School
of Liberal Studies; (1996) Ph.D. in Theatre from the
University of Minnesota; (1988) M.F.A. in Playwriting
from the University of California at San Diego; (1985)
M.A. in Drama from San Jose State University; (1984) B.A.
in Liberal Studies from San Jose State University
For years I have been obsessed with place and motion;
the ways in which landscapes change and are changed by
identity and perspective. A wanderer by nature, I am a
westerner by choice and temperament, a Californian by
upbringing if not by birth, and a Bay Area exile who has
finally returned home. I'm a theatre practitioner
(playwriting and dramaturgy) and historian
(renaissance-restoration Europe, 20th century American),
with an interest in the performance of community and the
environment. But most of all I think of myself as a
teacher &endash; which is why I am so happy to be here at
the Hutchins School, where teaching is what matters
most.
I came to SSU from the Theatre Department at Bowling
Green State University in northwest Ohio, where I taught
graduate and undergraduate courses in theatre history,
script analysis, playwriting, pedagogy and more. I also
wrote a couple shows and worked as dramaturg for a few
productions. Before that I was active in the University
of Minnesota production program, taught writing to
Midwestern undergraduates, and served as training
coordinator for over 100 new composition instructors
during the course of four years. Teacher training has
been part of my world since the 80s, and I've trained
Theatre graduate teaching assistants at BGSU, composition
instructors and biology teaching assistants at U of MN,
and junior faculty in virtually every discipline for the
Center for Teaching Development at UCSD.
My scholarship centers on questions of identity,
issues of perception, and modes of performance. I have
written on theatre of the 20th century American West and
16th -18th century Scotland, and continue to be
interested in the way history and society and culture and
imagination combine to construct theatrical production.
In addition, I am interested in the ways in which theatre
connects with and influences other disciplines
(especially education), how theatre might prove useful in
the re-visioning of social relationships (specifically
our awareness of and encounters with the environment, and
the articulation of oppression in pursuit of social
justice), and how theatre provides a vocabulary and craft
base for training in the sciences (especially biology).
I am involved in a wide variety of professional
associations and activities. I belong to the American
Studies Association, Association for Theatre in Higher
Education, California American Studies Association,
Dramatists Guild, Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of
America, Modern Language Association, Pedagogy and
Theatre of the Oppressed, Popular Culture Association,
Vernacular Architecture Forum, and Western History
Association.
In the Spring of 2000 I was chosen by the Carnegie
Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching as a Pew
National Fellowship Program Carnegie Scholar. My project
involves work on the use of portfolio assessment as an
interdisciplinary strategy for student empowerment and
student ownership of both the processes and products of
education &endash; an approach which has been championed
by the Hutchins Program since 1990. The central focus of
my project is on the ways in which ongoing portfolio
assessment, at the course and program levels, can be most
effectively envisioned not only as an external evaluation
tool, but as an internal and self-reflexive learning
strategy. I am also looking forward to working as a
Carnegie Fellow on two projects: the first, in
conjunction with the Carnegie Academy for the Scholarship
of Teaching and Learning, centers on the training of K-12
teachers; the second involves a re-consideration and
re-visioning of the meanings and methods of the liberal
arts in the twenty-first century. All of which fits
perfectly into my commitment to teaching and learning and
awareness and change.
Augusto Boal once wrote that "theatre is a form of
knowledge; it should and can also be a means of
transforming society. Theatre can help us build our
future, rather than just waiting for it." Barry Lopez
wrote that, "everything is held together with stories,
stories and compassion." Hopefully, in my work here at
the Hutchins School and beyond, I can help my students
understand and use the stories they encounter to build a
better future based on hope and compassion.
Although I will always miss winter camping along the
shores of Lake Superior and fall canoeing in the Boundary
Waters, I find great joy in summer backpacking in the
Sierras and spring rafting on the rivers of the West.
It's been a long, dusty road … but it is good to be
home.
r.g.
Richard Gale
Assistant Professor of Theatre
Hutchins School of Liberal Studies
Sonoma State University
1801 East Cotati Avenue
Rohnert Park, CA 94928-3609
707 - 664 - 3182 [office]
707 - 664 - 4389 [fax]
gale@sonoma.edu [e-mail]
