This past winter, the Carleton Players, directed by English professor Pierre Hecker, put on a spectacularly innovative production of Merchant of Venice, one of Shakespeare’s most controversial and complicated plays. Although many came to see the show, which touches heavily upon themes about the treatment and labelling of the alien and social-political inequities, what many do not know is that the the production also included a significant of Academic Civic Engagement (ACE) component.
“This was always, for all of us, about creating as rich an experience as possible pedagogically and about having it remain meaningful for the community,” says Hecker.
Students from Hecker’s course paid regular visits to the Latino Play Festival Group led by Jennifer Lombart in the Northfield High School to help students write plays and poems about their experiences and thoughts on alienation, whether that be in the form of being a first generation and/or minority student, anti-immigration policies, or family and daily social life. The goal of this collaboration was for the high school students to come to understand, through writing and reflecting about themselves and increased exposure to theater and production, that their stories and lives are worth sharing, and that the text of Shakespeare and the world of theater is relevant and accessible to students from various ages and backgrounds.
“My part in the process has been just listening to the students, brainstorming topics for poems and such with them, talking a bit about what they can do to impact their communities” , says Carleton student Maddy Birnbaum ‘20. In addition to the work at the high school, another group of students also led a theater group for the Middle School Youth Center, engaging young people in fun explorations of theater and performance. Just before opening night, these students came on a field trip to the Weitz Center, where a few bold middle schoolers volunteered on the spot to help out in a couple of scenes that the actors were performing for them. Both the college students and the middle schoolers enjoyed doing warm ups and spending time with each other.
Hecker also cooperated with History Professor Victoria Morse, whose course Women and Gender in Europe Before the French Revolution created an exhibition titled BEYOND THE MERCHANT OF VENICE: An exhibit of the Women and Religion in 16th C. Venice. Morse’s class also regularly visited the Northfield Middle School to teach interactive lessons on the daily experiences of Renaissance women; students took turns leading courses on food and cooking, acting, fashion, and more. This collaboration aimed to make the history of women’s lives interesting and of significance to the middle school students. When the middle school groups first launched, there was some skepticism among middle schoolers but participation and interest increased significantly over time showing all involved that the humanities and the arts can be a fun way to get to know each other. “The Middle School Youth Center students truly enjoyed working with Carleton students in both Pierre Hecker and Victoria Morse’s classes. Their initial hesitancy about the subject quickly changed to ‘what club is coming to day’ and ‘is it too late to start going to a club?’ Not only did they learn about Venice and history but they made some new connections in the process. It was a wonderful opportunity for the middle school students.
Ultimately, both collaborations exemplify that, in Hecker’s words, “Art is a way to say what we want to say about injustice.”