Please browse below or use the links below to review the sessions and workshops, organized by category (then select classes on the registration page):
Acting
AU theatre professor Caleen Jennings
No Fear Shakespeare
Demystify the scary notion that the Bard's language is too tough to tackle. This hands-on workshop is a fun crash course in Shakespearean acting with AU theatre professor Caleen Jennings.
Romeo and Juliet Meets Road Warrior:
A New Take on a Classic Tale
Do you think Romeo and Juliet were a sweet, innocent couple? Join AU theatre professor Carl Menninger for a presentation/performance as he discusses an alternative interpretation of Shakespeare's tale of star-crossed lovers.
Stage Combat for Dummies
Have you ever wondered how those bloody Shakespearean fights look so real? Experience firsthand the basic techniques of stage combat with visiting professor Robert Hunter Williams.
Dance
AU dance program Artist in Residence Christopher K. Morgan
So You Think You Can't (Understand Modern) Dance?
Have you ever attended a modern dance performance and felt like you were missing something? Through learning and creating movement, discussion and watching live performance, AU dance program Artist in Residence Christopher K. Morgan will help remove the cloud of mystery that sometimes surrounds modern dance.
From West Side Story to Thriller
Explore the world of theatrical jazz dance through the work of Jerome Robbins, Michael Bennett, Bob Fosse, and Michael Jackson with AU dance professor Melanie George. Participants will learn signature movements from iconic choreography and discover how each artist fits into the evolution of storytelling through dance.
Music
AU music professor Daniel Abraham
Conduct an Orchestra
Following a crash-course in conducting technique with AU music professor Daniel Abraham and new Director of Orchestral Activities Yaniv Dinur, each participant will step onto the podium to take a turn at conducting the AU Chamber Orchestra.
Beethoven's Genius
AU music professor Marc Medwin reveals the stylistic fingerprints of Beethoven's art through music performance and discussion.
Hindustani Music Workshop
Matt Boerum, AU audio tech faculty
Join AU ethnomusicologist Shalini Ayyagari for a demonstration of North Indian classical musical traditions featuring a hands-on introduction to tabla drumming.
Discover the Magic of a Hollywood Sound Stage
Make films come alive with the power of sound effects. These aren't your cartoonish POW, SPLAT, and ZAP's we're talking about so you can leave your slide whistle at home—no endless skies to fall from here. Instead, we're making the sounds you never knew you heard, the sounds you aren't supposed to notice, and the sounds that make the movie REAL. Join Audio Technology faculty, Paul Oehlers and Matt Boerum, as they show you how to create the sounds that make the movie. Learn how celery sticks break bones, how thunderstorms exist in a sheet of metal, and how a gut-wrenching psychopath makes silence the scariest sound of all.
Enter the World of Virtual Reality
Interact with alternative controller synthesizers! Ever wish you could make music out of thin air? We'll show you how. Audio Technology professor William Brent and his students are designing the next generation of interactive synthesizers and you're invited to experience the inventiveness and fun of virtual reality audio. Their custom designed software synthesizers using everything from Nintendo Wii controllers to interactive wooden blocks will be on display.
Visual Art
Sharon Wolpoff in her studio
Big Kids@Katzen Studio Art Class
Do you want to get messy, use your imagination, and learn about art? Become a Big Kid @ the Katzen! Investigate the pleasures of collage-making firsthand with artist Sharon Wolpoff, as she leads you thru a special creative project. Experience the grown-up version of American University's Kids @ the Katzen, a unique art program for children which features a living artist whose work is currently on display in the Museum. No experience necessary. We will provide you with all supplies and an apron.
AU art professor Don Kimes
Interruption, Transformation, and the Creative Process
Henry David Thoreau once stated "Every creative event that ever happened in the history of the world was an interruption. Unexpected. Unplanned for. The only people who ever get any place interesting are the ones who get lost." Artist, author, professor, and former longtime visual arts chair Don Kimes will be presenting his paintings and discussing the role of interruption as a catalyst for the creative process, incorporating the visual arts, music and his experiences living and working among the ancient ruins of Italy.
AU Museum director Jack Rasmussen
Not Art
Review the ubiquity of design and how it engages in the creative process, and communicates with what designers do. This course is led by graphic design professor, Chemi Montes.
Visual Art: Talking Up the New Figuration
What are figurative artists doing today? Come see new works and discuss 21st century concepts and techniques for portraying the self and the body with AU artists Zoe Charlton and Tim Doud and art historians Helen Langa and Juliet Bellow.
Gallery Tours
Museum director and curator Jack Rasmussen will lead a discussion of curatorial practice at the American University Museum, including a behind-the-scenes look at the current exhibitions: Revelation: Major Paintings by Jules Olitski; John Cage's STEPS: A Composition For a Painting, Selected Watercolors, Various Objects, and Ephemera; Occupy This!; and PLATFORMS: Washington Sculpture Group.