DR CHRIS HAY

TEACHING

My approach to teaching, which seeks to explode the false binary between thinking and doing that has historically shaped tertiary education, has received exceptional feedback from undergraduate and postgraduate students in both practice- and theory-led institutions. I propose a simultaneous thinking through doing and doing by thinking, and take care to establish a new set of behaviours from both students and teacher suited to each learning environment. My teaching ensures the best possible learning outcomes for all students, no matter their practical or educational background.

In addition to my research strengths, my areas of teaching expertise include:

• Australian theatre and cultural history;

• The history of theatre, particularly through reference to canonical theatre scripts;

• Contemporary documentary performance, including headphone verbatim; and

• Early Modern European performance, from improvised to text-based forms.

In 2020, I was recognised with an “Above & Beyond” award from the University of Queensland for the quality of my teaching in response to the COVID-19 crisis and the move to blended learning.

In 2018, along with my colleagues in UQ Drama, I was awarded the university’s Award for Programs that Enhance Learning (APEL). This award recognised our project “Building Pathways to Creative Careers”, which aligned our curriculum with industry and equipped our students with the entrepreneurial skills they require to succeed in a creative field. You can hear my colleagues and our students talk more about the project here, in a video I wish I had thought to get a haircut before: