Author: jsortore

The following is an expanded version of my remarks for the 2024 VASTA @ ATHE conference panel “Balancing Learning and Re-envisioning Assessment within Academia.” Background First, some ungrading basics that I’ve spoken on previously but bear repeating: These grading basics lead to some implicit messages about the craft of acting. Stated this way, they seem… Continue reading Rationale for and Evolution of Ungrading Practices

The following is a summary of remarks I made at the Association for Theatre in Higher Education Conference 2023 in Austin, TX. The panel discussion was sponsored by the Voice & Speech Trainers Association focus group and also included Irene Alby, Aimee Blesing, Amy Chaffee, Kristi Dana, and Colton Weiss. Panelists were asked to position… Continue reading VASTA @ ATHE Call to Action: Certifications

“Intentional Co-Evolution: Towards an Impact- Aware, Collaborative Voice Pedagogy” Co-Presenters: Ashleigh Reade (Boston University), Michael Shipley (Utah State University), Anne Thibault (Eastern Illinois University) The following blog post summarizes my contribution to the panel presentation “Intentional Co-Evolution: Towards an Impact- Aware, Collaborative Voice Pedagogy”: My goal is to describe some specifics of my continuing evolution… Continue reading Summary of Remarks at the 2023 VASTA/CEUVOZ Joint Conference

First off, some brief lessons from sociolinguistics… Everyone has an accent. To say that someone’s speech lacks accent features is akin to saying that person lacks facial features. When someone is said to have “no accent” (or “just a hint of an accent”), it is likely they speak with an accent that reflects dominant identities… Continue reading Invisible Storytelling: Production Dialect Design

Although I have worked with many different directors of Shakespeare in many different productions, and I pride myself on being a supportive colleague and adaptable coach, it would be disingenuous of me to claim that I do not have certain personal aesthetic preferences when it comes to verse speaking.  Primarily, I believe that poetry should… Continue reading A Verse-Speaking Aesthetic

Here’s the handout I gave to my students this term. It’s a big experiment, and it grew out of the fact that at the end of each term, I have to rank, categorize, and label all of the unique human beings I’ve gotten to know over the course of a semester. I want to be… Continue reading Thoughts on Grading