2017 OISTAT Education Meeting Minutes, Taipei, Taiwan

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1. Meeting called to order by William Kenyon at 14:04 pm. A sign-in sheet was made available, and a current roster of the Commission membership was circulated for corrections & updates.
   1. Chair Kenyon acknowledged other past Commission chairs present.
   2. Presentation of Agenda.
2. Summation/acceptance of last meeting’s minutes.
   1. All prior meeting minutes are available on the OISTAT website.
3. Recent OISTAT Education Chair Report to the Executive Council.
   1. Report is available in the World Congress Meeting Book.
4. Chair’s report on July 2017 Executive Council/Governing Board Meetings.
   1. Reminder from the group that the 50th anniversary of OISTAT will be in Cardiff, August 30th – September 2nd, 2018. There may be a short Education Commission mtg.
5. Chair’s report on upcoming Meetings:
   1. 2017 October – Hungary – Chair only to attend EC/GB Meetings.
   2. 2018 March – Orlando, Florida, USA by invitation of USITT.
      • This will be held in Orlando based on hotel availability, alternate location will be Ft. Lauderdale. This will tentatively be March 9- 11, 2018.
   3. 2019 January – Helsinki, Finland (tentative or later).
      • Could be in conjunction with Lux Helsinki, but might be too much in a PQ year for them to host.
   4. 2019 June – Prague, Czech Republic.
      • It is hard to hold this meeting during the PQ, so a different date might be chosen.
   5. 2019 June – Berlin along with Stage/Set/Scenery
      • This might be an easier fit for those who are already traveling to the PQ. It is unclear as to whether this would only be a meeting, or coupled with other events.
   6. 2020 TBA – Need proposals for hosting – the following suggestions have been made:
      • Japan after Olympics.
      • Helsinki if we go to Berlin in 2019 instead.
      • Georgia.
      • Australia.
      • Mexico.
        • Georgia, Australia, Mexico were all previously suggested to old leadership, but not currently active ideas.
   7. 2021 August (Location TBA) – In conjunction with WSD 2021
   8. TBA – We are hoping to reinstate the BIB/ISDSWE Project.
      • Michael R. explained the nature of BIB/ISDSWE project. This involved approximately 60 students from a variety of nations. The former host is not expressing interest in supporting this, so the project is currently in limbo. Marina R. suggested that another location might be considered. Michael R. thinks that Shanghai Univ. (where he teaches) might be good host. Lee-Zen C. suggested that a new name might be needed with the switch to a new location.
   9. Would we like to meet in conjunction with other Commissions?
      • EdCom met with Costumes & Research in Seville, Spain in 2016.
      • There was some concern voiced that joint meetings would lead to missing key events elsewhere (such as the case at WSD 2017).
      • It was suggested that it would be useful for each sub-commission to circulate information about what they are working on for the benefit of the other sub-commissions.
6. Report of Commission and Commission Member Projects:
   1. Chair Kenyon outlined a brief history of the nature of past EdCom projects related to specific meeting locations. In recent years, EdCom has helped to create certificate level training programs in different locations.
   2. Trilogy Project - Matt Kizer (Plymouth State University).
      • Matt K. introduced himself and his school’s program. Three schools built the same set and then toured one of three plays to each other’s schools with minimal props and costumes. He wants to develop this outward to an international platform. It is low cost to OISTAT, and a good way to integrate students and build inter- program relationships. Chair Kenyon will circulate his PowerPoint to anyone interested.
   3. Core Strategy Project – OISTAT HQ & Carl Walling (University of Findlay).
      • This project has run once before, and might be re-mounted again in Taipei, along with multiple online meetings. The “pitch” for this will be circulated via email.
   4. PQ/OISTAT Internship - OISTAT HQ
      • An information flyer for this experience was provided to all members. The experience would begin 3-4 weeks prior to PQ 2019. They would complete this experience and then also be part of WSD 2021 to help work with a second group of students. (8-9 in each cohort).
   5. Brazil & Serbia Theatre Training projects – Ian Evans (Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama).
   6. 50th anniversary book project - Ivo Kersmaekers (Theatre Timeline Group).
      • The targeted publish date for this volume would be after the 2021 event. Additional information, including materials, information, photos; etc. will be solicited via email message by Chair Kenyon.
   7. ETTA/EU Erasmus Training Program - Gabi Högg & Christian Buschhoff (German Theater Association DTHG).
      • Chair Kenyon outlines this base level test as a way to demonstrate basic technical theatre skills and safety around the world. In theory, any student working in the field should be able to complete this without any major pedagogical shifts. Possible next iteration of this could run at USITT. This would extend beyond any specific school or training program. There is not a specific WWW link for this yet, but Chair Kenyon can send out a 1 hr PowerPoint about it for anyone interested.
   8. Heritage theatre techniques touring workshop - Jerome Maeckelbergh.
      • This builds on a 2014 presentation in Antwerp (Wood, Canvas, & Rabbit Glue). He will give a formal presentation on heritage theatre machinery’s use in contemporary theatre performance at WSD 2017 later this week. The workshop, with the 1/10th scale model, was held in Berlin in 2017 (where the model currently is). Jerome M. is interested in offering these workshops, with the model, to a wider audience. He has broken out the associated costs for a scaled down version of this to tour via automobile. The aggregate costs per visit (if multiple European schools) could be organized together as a small tour. The per-school cost would be roughly 2450.00 euros.
      • A school could also build their own based on plans that he created, especially if the schools are outside of the land based travel area.
      • Could this be of interest to the History & Heritage group of USITT ? What if the model was built domestically and Jerome M. presented it at a conference?
   9. Student & Teacher exchange with Escola Superior de Arte Dramática de Galicia - Eufrasio Lucena-Muñoz (ESAD).
      • Eufrasio L-M. is interested in pursuing opportunities for schools to work together on exchange programs in various ways. Chair Kenyon suggested that OSITAT might be able to generate some form of a letter template that would help layout basic guidelines that could lead to OISTAT endorsement of programs.
   10. World Scenography Book MOOC - Eufrasio Lucena-Muñoz (ESAD).
       • Eufrasio L-M. introduced himself as an instructor at Galicia and at the all-online school: UNIR. He is interested in creating a MOOC to share the heritage of OISTAT. He would like to develop something across sub-commissions/groups.
       • This MOOC could be hosted by groups like Moodle, Coursera, Camilo, or possibly via an Educational/Institutional partner. This could be created from existing digital content or via interviews with current OISTAT members from different disciplines.
       • Some type of follow up test/evaluations would need to be developed, that would lead to an online assessment and/or certification. Technical support and pedagogical supervision is required.
       • The hope is that this would increase OISTAT’s visibility, while spreading positive practice and technique.
       • The response from the group was very positive for this idea. It was suggested that starting with a single small project/training module would be a good place to start.
       • It would be easiest to start with a YouTube based lecture series to help build energy and interest to this to get start, as a Moodle project is complicated to get started.
   11. OISTAT Small Meetings – Flor Dias
       • Flor D. suggests that we might be able to develop more members by establishing more frequent outings/small scale events that reach out to all potential members. This is based on a practice already in place by the Society of British Stage Designers. This would be best marketed via social media to attract local membership. The goal is that student interest would build in the sub-commission and OISTAT.
       • This conversation led to a discussion of how student and professionals are frequently separated at official OISTAT events, rather than encouraged to come together.
       • It was suggested that creating a sense of branding / #hashtagging specific events would help build interest.
7. Membership & Promotion.
   1. Building Membership in Commission & OISTAT.
      • Marina R. suggested that we try to develop an additional event/programming that works to engage students and help them interact.
      • Tom Burch suggested that online conversations could be initiated ahead of the PQ to help students connect ahead of time.
      • Possibly a special room at the PQ / WSD could be dedicated for student / EdCom programming. The associated costs of this for OISTAT might be prohibitive.
      • Are there companies that would be willing to help subsidize student travel costs to allow them to attend major events?
      • Matthew A. asked if students have been asked about their interests, and what they would like to get out of the event(s). The general structure is to hold a business meeting and then related events that would be better suited for students and their interests. For example: student/professional networking. The related programming tends to get lost at the bigger events due to time/space/competing programming conflicts.
      • A potential event hosted by the Czech Republic in early Spring / late Winter could be possible that brings students together.
8. What Projects would members like to engage in? How do we best serve the worldwide academy and its students?
   1. Chair Kenyon will send out an email seeking interest from the EdCom membership about which projects seem to be the most interesting and worth EdCom pursuing.
   2. OISTAT EC will start using Basecamp software to communicate. Chair Kenyon will ask if the web-based software will be made available to the sub-commissions.

The meeting was adjourned at 16:00 by Chair Kenyon.

Minutes by Matthew Allar.