2008 Woodie Awards
UWF instructor educates how to act practically
Katherine Corsair
Issue date: 4/17/08 Section: News
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Kern's new class is mainly directed toward non-theater students who could benefit from the practical aspects of public performance. Claudia Stanny, the CUTLA director, saw this class as an opportunity for professors to gain skills that would increase their presence in the classroom.
"However you want to look at it, teaching is a performance," Stanny said.
From the moment that Kern stood up and began his demonstration on Friday, it was obvious that he is everything one would expect in a theater teacher. He scuttled around the room, gesturing emphatically with every exciting sentence. It was not long before the small group was enthralled by the young, charismatic teacher from Los Angeles.
Kern led the group of seven professors in a series of activities that singled out each one and put even the most experienced faculty member out of his or her comfort zone.
"When we are in front of people, we are not in a comfortable place," Kern said to his audience.
Kern explained that his class could be beneficial to anyone needing assistance with public speaking. With each exercise, Kern demonstrated that even the most experienced public speaker becomes uncomfortable when they have uninteresting material or are caught unawares.
"Jitteriness is death in front of the classroom," Kern said.
Though each professor might have shifted uneasily at one point or another, it was not long before everyone was giggling at themselves and their peers.
"He really got us into it," Eman El-Sheikh, an assistant professor in the computer science department said. "We are so used to preprocessing everything that we say, and now we have some new ideas."
Kern said that he is convinced that this class, in addition to being beneficial to faculty, would be beneficial to anyone from English majors to law students.
"This is an acting course that is for everyone besides my acting students," Kern said.
The practical acting class will focus on teaching life skills in a group-oriented, fun setting. It will also give students who have always been curious about stage performance a small insight into the world of theater.
Practical acting will be offered for the first time this summer during Session C under the title TTP3990. There are 30 spots available, and the class needs at least 20 participants to make.
"This class is an opportunity for students who have always wanted to take an acting class but never had the time," Kern said.
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