Alumni Piper Anderson and Sherry Teitelbaum Return to Teach
Sherry Teitelbaum and Piper Anderson graduated from the M.A. in Applied Theatre in 2011. Now they both teach for the program. This fall, Sherry finished her second year co-teaching Project Thesis I, the program's thesis preparation seminar, with faculty member Amy Green. In four weeks, when the spring semester starts, Piper will begin teaching the foundational theories seminar Community, Culture, and Diversity.
Sherry entered the master's program with 30 years of experience as a professional director. Since graduating, she has combined her directing experience with her training in applied theatre to create Bridging the Gap, an intergenerational LGBTQ theatre project. Alumni Kevin Ray ('11), Tim Connel ('11), Jennie Houseal ('11), Melanie Willingham-Jaggers ('11), and Maggie Keenan-Bolger ('10) have also worked with the project. Branching out, Sherry has also begun teaching public speaking to 14- to 16-year-olds at Hostos Community College, with the approach to education and an affinity for young people she developed in the master's program.
In Project Thesis I, Sherry specializes in supporting writing. She explains that she approaches her writing coaching the same way that she approaches being a dramaturge: "I ask 'how is your writing now? How do you want it to develop? How can I help?' It's how I work with playwrights on their plays." Sherry also draws on years of experience as a grant writer to sharpen the academic edge of students' writing about their work in the field.
Piper entered the master's program as an accomplished activist and educator. At NYU Gallatin, Piper teaches her course Lyrics on Lockdown. In the course, students investigate the prison-industrial complex, explore possibilities for community arts and education, and design and implement 5-week arts programs with teenagers at Riker's Island, New York's storied jail. To deliver the course, Piper draws on over 15 years as a teaching artist and over 12 years facilitating and organizing around art and prison reform. Since graduating from the Masters' program, Piper has worked for American Place Theatre in various leadership roles; she is now Director of Education and Artist Development. Piper is also offering a winter intensive at the New School, on creative justice.
In Community, Culture, and Diversity, Piper is preparing to build on students' previous conversations about human development. Then, by teaching the likes of Marc Lamont Hill, Maisha Winn, and bell hooks, she is going to challenge students to work with and in the cultures of the communities they engage.
"I try not to do work that is just an exercise," says Sherry. "My thesis project was the start of Bridging the Gap, which we've run for 4 years now. We've employed alumni. The thesis students see that."
"Let's talk about the importance of alumni coming back," reflects Piper. "We're carrying forth a legacy."
