Blog 7 - Second Interview Preparation

1.  Who is your mentor and where do they work?  If their workplace does not reflect their expertise, what makes them an expert?

My mentor's name is Giovanni Ortega and he is a professor of Theater at Pomona College in Claremont. Pomona College is a very prestigious school and was ranked number one in the country by Forbes Magazine so teaching there, I believe, makes him an expert in his field. He is relevant to my topic because not only is he an expert in theater but also knows a lot about other forms of performing arts. In the conversations we've had it is to my understanding that he has been many places around the world and my project focuses on performing arts on a global scale. 

2.  What five questions will you ask them about their background?

• What types of performance art have you been apart of? Have you taught all of these or just participated?
• How long have you been teaching theater?
• What specifically do you teach? Acting? Directing? etc. 
• Have you traveled to many places? If so have you seen any type of performance native to that culture or country?
• Is there any specific characteristic you feel qualifies you to be an expert in this field? 

I'm sure these questions will have many follow up questions during the interview. 

Blog 6: Advisory Prep

1. What has worked well for you concerning senior project this year?  What has made it a positive experience for you?  

I am not going to lie I have been struggling. I haven't found my mojo yet when it comes to getting all my work done. Switching my topics was unexpected for me but there is no point in switching back now. I have to reevaluate what I'm really trying to accomplish here. I feel I am catching up though and its going to be ok. The bright side is I am still focusing on a topic that I find interesting. My potential essential question is more clear and I feel like I am going to be able to research a lot more now. 

2. What are you finding difficult concerning senior project?  How can you adapt to make that portion work better for you?  How might the senior team help?

Everything I'm struggling with is my own fault. I have been the one procrastinating and/or not doing my work. I jam packed my schedule this semester which I probably shouldn't have done considering I have now stressed myself out more. I'm still learning how to make time for everything and being strict with myself to keep a tight schedule and I know I can get it all done. 

Blog 5: Interview 1 Reflection

1. What is the most important thing I learned from the interview?  Is there anything I would do differently for other interviews?

I asked my mentor if I could interview him and he agreed only I procrastinated setting a date to meet with him. If I contacted him the weekend before it was due and I found out he was out of the country for the rest of the month. I gave him my interview questions and he is going to answer them for me this coming week. If I had tried to set a date earlier I would have know he wasn't going to be available and I could have found another person in time but because I was only concerned with my schedule that and not his I didn't give myself enough time to find a fallback. I should also have had a fallback in the beginning. I will still have an Interview 1 but it will be one week late and I wont have a recording because my mentor will be sending me his responses via email from Canada. This whole thing was a huge stressful wake up call and I wont let it happen again.

2. Did I get additional resources and contacts?  What is the most useful?  Why?

3. What makes my interviewee qualified to help me? 

My mentor works in the theater department at Pomona College so he knows a lot about all aspects of theater. He has been to many countries traveling with  theater/ imporv so he has had first hand experience with many cultures and that is what I want to pick his brain for. I want to know how other countries view performing arts and what options their country has. He has had experience with dance and music as well so if is very familiar with many genres of performing arts.

Blog 4 - House Advisory Prep 1

My senior topic is officially Performance Art. I have decided to expand from theater to all mediums of performance for the main reason of being able to look at my topic from an international standpoint. Every country/region/ culture has its own form of performance art and I am wondering how each cultures performance art influences their cultures' values and beliefs. How is a society shaped by its performance art?
What I really hope to get from this project is a wide range of genres I can learn about. I would love to, at some point or another, be able to watch each medium I discover and learn about. I hope to talk to many different people and from all over the world and get insight on what it would be like to see a performance in their country.

Blog 3 - First Interview Preparation

I plan on interviewing my mentor Giovanni Ortega. He is a theater professor at Pomona College. Alongside the required questions some examples of questions I plan on asking are as followed:

1) Can something like "improvisation skills" be taught? Are people just naturally gifted with the skill?

2) How important is theater in our society? Do you think is should be more important than it is right now?

3) What benefits does theater have? Does Improv have even more or the same benefits?

4) What is your advice to someone like me who is interested in the field? Where do you feel I should focus my research towards?