Course Information This course is a fast-paced, engaging performing arts-based introduction to the history and culture of Central and Eastern Europe: the Czech Republic, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, and Croatia. Through readings, lectures, concert and theatre performances, tours, and discussions, students will gain an understanding of the history, culture, and political development of this region through a performing arts lens and seek to uncover the ways that performing arts became a mirror to reflect human struggles and successes, political upheaval, times of transition, and new beginnings. Additionally, students will challenge themselves as artists abroad by developing and working on an independent creative project with a faculty mentor as a way to process and reflect on the new perspectives offered by interacting with the performance communities and rich history of the countries we visit as well as to tap into the inspirational and often transformative power of travel and intercultural experience.

Approved Credit
THEA elective for majors/minors
Fine Arts: SOPHIA

Prerequisites
There are no prerequisites for the course.

Priority Deadline
April 4 at 8 am: Some courses may fill by the priority deadline. Courses with open spaces will remain open until October 1 or until filled, whichever comes first.

Comprehensive Fee Information
TBD: Includes international airfare, all accommodation, entrance into museums, guides, in-country transportation, daily breakfast, several group meals and the IPO health & safety fee (EIIA Insurance Coverage).

Required Readings
Berkoff, Steven. “Metamorphosis.” The Trial, Metamorphosis, and In the Penal Colony: Three Theatre Adaptations from Franz Kafka, Amber Lane Press, 1988, pp. 79-121.
Einhorn, Edward (libretto) and Henry Akona (music). The Velvet Oratorio. Theatre 61 Press, 2009.
Fornes, Maria Irene. “The Danube.” Plays: Maria Irene Fornes, PAJ Publications, 2001, pp. 41-64.
Havel, Václav. “Audience.” Three Vanek Plays: Audience, Protest, Unveiling, translated by Jan Novak, Faber and Faber, 1990, pp. 5-26.
Shaffer, Peter. Amadeus. Harper Perennial, 2001.
Solnit, Rebecca. “The Monument Wars.” Call Them By Their True Names, Haymarket Books, 2018, pp. 133-42.
Štivicic, Tena. 3 Winters. Nick Hearn Books, 2015.
Stoppard, Tom. “Cahoot’s Macbeth.” The Real Inspector Hound and Other Plays, Grove Press, 1998, pp. 139-175.

Evaluation
30% Group Discussion, Participation, and Attendance
30% Creative Journal/Project
20% Reviews (Performance/Place)
20% Reflective Conversation

Course Leaders
Jayna Fitzsimmons
Assistant Professor, Theatre
605.274.5219
jayna.fitzsimmons@augie.edu

Jayna developed and has taught this course twice before as an Augie-only program (2016 and 2018.) Jayna has been a full-time faculty member in the theatre department since 2010. She directs productions and teaches coursework in acting, theatre history and literature, new play development, improvisation, and theatre for social change. Jayna also teaches a global studies course that explores performance in Central and Eastern Europe, and she is a member of Augie’s Global Education Committee and sits on the board of the Upper Midwest Association of Intercultural Education (UMAIE). Jayna’s directing work has received regional honors from the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival (KCACTF); most recently, she earned recognition for her productions of Real as Air, King Lear, and When the World Was Wild and Waste. As a director, Jayna frequently partners with the Dakota Academy of Performing Arts, and she is the producing artistic director of Bare Bodkins Theatre Company, a professional, original practice Shakespeare company based in Sioux Falls. Jayna received her B.A. in theatre arts from Southwest Minnesota State University and her M.A. in theatre with emphases on acting, directing, theatre history, and English Renaissance drama from the University of South Dakota. Jayna is currently a Ph.D. candidate in critical studies in English literature at the University of South Dakota, specializing in 20th and 21st-century drama. Her research interests include metatheatre, theatre for social change, resistance literature, and the relationship between text, performance, and audience.

Daniel Workman
Chair and Assistant Professor, Theatre
Phone: 605.274.5065
daniel.workman@augie.edu

Dan joined Augustana’s faculty as in 2008 and is the current department chair. Over the course of his career, Dan has performed in over 200 productions and directed more than 50. At Augustana he teaches acting, directing, script analysis, and stage combat as part of his teaching load, and he serves as the faculty advisor and mentor to the Augustana Collaborative Theatre Society (ACTS), a student-run lab theatre. Dan is also the Artistic Director of the Black Hills Playhouse, a professional summer stock theatre that has been in Custer State Park for 75 years. As Artistic Director, Dan has overseen all production elements at the Black Hills Playhouse for the last 12 years. Dan also has extensive experience in children’s theatre, acting and directing in numerous theatrical styles, and producing theatre in a variety of venues and companies. Dan earned his B.F.A. in theatre performance from Tarkio College, and he holds an M.F.A. in theatre direction from the University of South Dakota.