Ideas in Action

The below comments are taken from Professor Peter Welch's Intro to Women's Studies in February. Ideas In Action, with the help of Wild Acts, theatre for Social Justice, created a play about abusive relationships. They came to class in character, introduced themselves, and then performed scenes from a play they had created with David Kaye on abusive relationships. After each scene, the class was invited to ask questions of each of the characters, as the play unfolded. Here are some reactions from the class participants.

"I am a music major, so I have a fair amount of "artistic" background. That being said, that was one of the most fascinating experiences I've ever had in a UNH classroom. Not only did you and your cast present us with a very interesting plot line, but you gave us, the Women's Studies class, an opportunity to be a part of your production and really dig into some very meaningful discussions. "

"This activity was extremely powerful. I found this play eye-opening and loved how it was a different way to learn. It seemed as though the play had all the aspects necessary to show violence in a relationship and also how to teach prevention and give ideas to what one not in the relationship, can do to help."

"I thought this play was very powerful and gets across how complex abusive relationships can be. I also liked how all the characters were in our age category which made them very relatable."

"I really enjoyed the activity and highly suggest doing it again next semester. Before this class I had a narrow view of abusive relationships. However, the readings for this week really opened my eyes, as did the performance/activity."

"I've been in these characters' position. I have been Ainsley to some extent and I have been Lauren many times. Watching this made me very uncomfortable in so many great ways. I realized things about my relationships. I wanted to jump up and be a part."

"I thought it was awesome to combine the two classes. I felt that the class really enjoyed it. I thought it was cool that we could learn from each other and in such a fun way! I prefer learning through characters like in the plays and readings about women's' stories. I greatly enjoyed this experience."

On February 1, Ideas in Action program partnered with Professors Douglas Lanier and Rachel Trubowitz's Shakespeare Lab to perform a scene from As You Like It.

"Ideas in Action provided our Shakespeare classes with an experience of live Shakespearean performance and an open-ended Q&A of actors that one just can't get any other way. We're very grateful for the opportunity to connect our students with the excitement, risks, joys and challenges of live theater."

- Professor Douglas Lanier

Theatre majors Amy Desrosiers and Spencer Benson perform two scenes created for Professor Drew Christie's Logic Class entitled "The Fallacy Café." They play two students who meet for coffee each week where they engage in discussions and arguments that are riddled with fallacies. Students in Professor Christie's class are charged with spotting and identifying the various fallacy forms used by the two characters.