John Sheridan, dean of the university library and archive, discusses next year’s theme for the general education program Wednesday afternoon in the Memorial Union Colonial Ballroom. Jon Coffey/ The Bulletin

Choosing a theme for general education in order to improve the experience of students was the main focus at the General Education Enhancement Workshop yesterday afternoon in the Memorial Union Ballroom.

“We use the metaphor of a silo,” said Gary Wyatt, associate dean of liberal arts and science and director of general education. “You hop into the history silo at nine and climb out, and then at 10 you hop into the biology silo and they’re completely different – we want to bring connections.”

The forum chose to use food as the theme for the general education program next year. The forum hopes that incorporating this theme will connect the different general education classes to one another as well as the real world and will help students find more relevance in the courses, Wyatt said.

Some of the topics presented by faculty and students including social networking, death and climate change. The forum participants addressed all of these points in small groups and then voted as a whole through three rounds of narrowing down the subjects.

The idea of choosing a theme to make connections from subject to subject stemmed from previous meetings of faculty and students and Wyatt said that other schools he had heard from had found success with this strategy.

During the debate, food received support because it was broad enough to encompass all of the subjects but not so broad as to dilute the subject so the connections could not be made. Jim Bartruff, director of theater, believed that freshmen would be bright enough to make those connections even with such a broad topic.

“I think the theme will be general enough for people to stay interested, and not a huge political stance like it could have been,” said Traci Schremmer, senior communications major.

Climate change was overlooked because of how polarizing a subject it could be, which could immediately turn off certain students, said Deborah Gerish, associate professor of social sciences.

Death was dismissed as a theme because of previous experience with such a dark subject was poorly received by students in an English course taught by Rachelle Smith, associate professor of English. She was a supporter of the theme but acknowledged the darkness of the subject.

“The overall theme, especially the uplifting one of food as compared to death, I could see that being fun for incoming freshman who can come in and see that all of their classes will have food involved. I’m very excited to see what’s going to happen next year,” said Liz Coffey, senior earth science major.

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About 30 students from ESU will make the trip to Ames to participate in various workshops, theater performances and to interact with theater students from throughout the region.

Jim Bartruff, director of theater, will also be attending the conference. Bartruff, who became ESU’s director of theater in 2004 and was selected as a national directing fellow for Region V at the 2010 conference, said the conference is a very good chance for ESU theater students to experience theater at a higher level.

“(The conference) gives us the opportunity to share the work that we do with other schools in the region to recognize the fact that we are a part of the largest theater community in the nation… In any given day, there is more theater going on at colleges and universities than anywhere else in America. It’s a fairly vibrant community and we need to celebrate being a part of that,” Bartruff said.

According to The Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival website, the conference was started in 1969 and has “served as a catalyst in improving the quality of college theater in the United States.” According to the website there are eight regional festivals throughout the country. ESU participates in Region V, which encompasses Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota.

Students who are selected to participate in the regional festivals may also be selected to represent the region at the national conference in April. Eight ESU theater students have been selected as Irene Ryan nominees, which is a scholarship through the Irene Ryan Foundation for college theater participants across the country. ESU students nominated for the award are James Hatton, Marah Melvin, Gabe Moyer, Annie Rosenbrook, Brianne Simon, Kangwon Song, Josh Taylor and Andrew Walker.

Taylor, junior theater major, is participating in his third KCACTF in as many years and said that the experience is very helpful for theater students at ESU.

“A theater student in Kansas doesn’t get a lot of opportunity to see a lot of other theater and get known in the theater world and this is a good opportunity for (us) to meet other theater students, attend classes, go through workshops and network for jobs in the future,” Taylor said.

Taylor will audition for the Irene Ryan Scholarship by showcasing a light design that he created. He wants to be a stage electrician or lighting designer after graduating.

Bartruff also added that the festival was a great opportunity for ESU students to experience the work of other theater students throughout the region.

“I think more than anything, it’s (about) getting to see each others work, because during the academic year there is not much of an opportunity to do that… Just being able to hang together with a bunch of people who have similar interests and the same kind of focus in their lives is really enriching and rewarding,” he said.

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Johnson plays the role of Dr. Frank N Furter for this year’s Homecoming Scholarship Musical, Richard O’Brien’s “Rocky Horror Show.”

“I like everything about it,” Johnson said. “It’s a show that I’m a big fan of. I’ve watched the movie since I was in middle school every year.”

“The Rocky Horror Show” started in London in the 1970s and grew to become a cult phenomenon with its film version, “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” in the U.S. Jim Bartruff, theater director and professor, said it developed out of an anti-establishment, free love environment. The show spoofs science fiction movies of the 1960s.

“It’s one of those shows that our students say ‘let’s do the Rocky Horror Show’ and there was always a bit of reluctance to do it because of the subject matter,” Bartuff said.

Bartruff said he and a planning committee looked at the material and realized that it is not as startling as it might have been 40 years ago when the show began. He said they decided on doing the show because Homecoming fell on Halloween and it allows audience members to dress up and get involved.

During midnight showings of the “Rocky Horror Picture Show,” audience members shout at the movie screen and throw food items. Bartruff said that because ESU’s performance is a theater production, liquids and food will be confiscated at the door. Prop kits will be available for $5 and the proceeds will go to the music and theatre departments.

Marah Melvin, freshman elementary education major, said she and the other actors in the show are excited to see the crowd get involved.

“We encourage it, we hope people dress up, we hope people shout things, you know,” Melvin said. “We just feed off that and the energy, so we would love it if they do it.”

Performances of the Rocky Horror Show are Oct. 29 at 7:30 p.m., Oct. 30 at 12 a.m., Oct. 31 at 7:30 p.m. and Nov. 1 at 2 p.m. Tickets are available at the ESU Box Office in the Memorial Union or by calling 620-341-6378.

Lauren Walbridge/The Bulletin

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