Teaching

I have been teaching since the early 1990's. My philosophy is that I can learn from my students just as much as they can learn from me. In my classes, I engage the students in a conversation where everyones thought process matters, and should be heard, when relevant to what is being discussed in class.

When I teach design, I try to give the students a contextual framework of how things work (Qualities of Light and how the brain interprets that info), and how choices made by previous designers affect why we do things now (Functions
of Stage Lighting and methods of how to communicate design intent). I feel that
once they have this framework, they can start to develop their own method of designing and being able to communicate that effectively to others.

I have taught design classes for high school theater festivals for many years in Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Nebraska, Alabama, and California. I am currently an adjunct professor at Dominican University teaching lighting design.
I also teach at Redwood High School in Marin, CA, and East Bay Center for the Performing Arts in Richmond, CA.