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JESSICA
"DECKY" ALEXANDER
Associate
Professor of Applied Drama & Theatre for the Young
Director, Office of Academic Service-Learning
Communications Coordinator, Office of Institutional Effectiveness & Accountability
219
Rackham Hall
734.487.6570
jalexande1@emich.edu
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Degrees
MFA—Drama & Theatre for the Young, Eastern Michigan
University, 1996
BA—Theatre & Sociology, Lawrence University, 1991
Professional Associations/Memberships
Imagining America
Michigan Campus Compact
American Alliance for Theatre in Education
Representative courses taught
CTAR 323/657: Improvisation
CTAR 324/504: Performing Youth Literature & Oral Interpretation
of Children’s
Literature.
CTAR 522: Applied Theatre
CTAR 541: Performance, Text & Context: Narrating the Self
CTAR 565: Studies in Educational Drama: Community Based Performance
Advising
Applied Drama, MA & MFA
Children’s Literature & Drama/Theatre for the Young,
Interdisciplinary BA
CMTA Comprehensive, BA—major and minor
General Education
Biography
Jessica ‘Decky’ Alexander’s current creative
and scholarly endeavors include: the use of
the theatre for faculty development; community performance; community
art and
activism, and academic service-learning. She currently serves
as EMU’s Director of the
Office of Academic Service-Learning, which houses The B. Side
(Business Side) of
Youth, and CrossTown Theatre Troupe, a program supporting youth
voice through
theatre. In 1997, Alexander founded EMU’s CloseUP Theatre
Troupe which performs
annually for approximately 8000 plus audience members at multiple
universities and
colleges, and has been home to over 120 student actor/educators.
In 2008, Alexander in
collaboration with the Faculty Development Center founded C2
(CloseUP Classroom) a
performing ensemble of faculty and students who create theatre
for faculty on issues
related to teaching and learning.
Recent conference presentations include: Faculty Fellows & Academic
Service-Learning,
a 17 year University Investment & Exploration MCC, 2012;
Theatre for facultyDevelopment, AATE 2011; (Re)Story: How story
can save, shape and illuminate social
and public policy, Imagining America 2008; Practicing Equity
in the
University/Community Partnership, Michigan Campus Compact; Is
Youth
Voice…Community Voice? A Tale of Two Community Performances
with Kate Collins,
Imagining America 2009, and Theatre for/with and about Faculty
with Jeffrey Steiger for
the AATE/ATHE 2009 Conference. Currently, Alexander is working
with the Associate
Provost on University accreditation and communication strategies.
Alexander is the recipient of the Ronald Collins Distinguished
Faculty Award for
Service, the 2008 Martin Luther King, Jr. Honor Award, the 2007
Alumni Teaching
Award, the 2007 ACLU Washtenaw County- Civil Liberties Champion
Award, the
2005 Institutional Values Award for Diversity, Multicultural and
Human Dignity, the
2002 Division of Enrollment Services Faculty Award, and the Gold
Medallion
Outstanding Faculty Award, 1998.
Websites:
www.emich.edu/asl
www.emich.edu/ci
www.emich.edu/better
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