ABSTRACT
Challenges in higher education today include issues related to teaching, research, internationalization, expanding technology and modes of instructional delivery, interdisciplinarity, institutional governance, and changes in demographics (including issues of access and equity), to name just a few. Theatre faculty and departments must move outside their comfort zones and join in the national conversations related to these issues. These national issues affect theatre departments in higher education. We need to participate in the conversations on our campuses, at disciplinary conferences, and with those involved with higher education in general. We need to keep upto-date with The Chronicle of Higher Education and other publications which report on the state of our profession. It is diffi cult to realize that, whereas at one time theatre departments may have been at the forefront in higher education-particularly in the areas of pedagogy and creative teaching, today we have fallen behind. Nowhere is this more evident than in theatre’s demographics. The need for change can be addressed at both the local/institutional level and the national/association level.
