Theatre and Speech

I teach theatre history, literature and criticism at Hillsdale. I also direct shows and serve as Director of the Hillsdale College Forensics Teams (Debate and Individual Events). I was the editor for the Michigan Association of Speech Communication Journal from 1999-2002, and remain an Associate Editor for that publication. Currently, I'm on the Editorial Board for Baylor Journal of Theatre and Performance (BJTP). I am active in a number of scholarly organizations, including the National Communication Association, the Association for Theatre in Higher Education, and the American Society for Theatre Research. I also serve as an Associate Adjudicator for Region III of the American College Theatre Festival. I have published work in a variety of journals, including recent reviews in Theatre Journal and BJTP as well as forthcoming work in Theatre Survey. I also review Russian-language films for The Family Focus, the national newsletter of the Friends of Russian and Ukrainian Adoption.

Bertolt Brecht (playwright/director/theorist), Anton Chekhov (playwright), Thornton Wilder, Russian Film and Theatre, Japanese Anime, Shakespeare's Tempest

THE 200, Understanding Theatre

All of them...we are so blessed to have as many students as we do who are working in the field of theatre and speech, many of them in the kinds of jobs I myself would love to have if I was not a professor. It's great to go to almost any of the major theatre towns in America and know that we have alumni working in them. Off the top of my head, I can think of Hillsdale graduates doing professional theatre and film work in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Boston, Philadelphia, Phoenix, and Portland.

First and foremost that this is a place that takes education and the liberal arts very seriously. Also, as a theatre person, I am used to being the only conservative in the room...the political atmosphere of Hillsdale gives me the opportunity to argue from the left all the time, which is both academically and personally enriching for me.

Come to Hillsdale. Check it out. Look around. If it feels right to you, then go and look at 3-5 other similar schools. I am confident that you will find Hillsdale to be the best choice, and I want to welcome students here knowing that they chose Hillsdale, and that we also chose them (so study
hard and ace your entrance exams!). Don't come here because your parents told you that you should...come here because this is one of the
finest small liberal arts colleges in the country, and Hillsdale will give you the tools necessary to follow your dreams. And WHEN you get here...audition for the theatre department's plays!

That they are often as excited about learning as I am about teaching.

james.brandon@hillsdale.edu