June 2005 -
League of Their Own

Excellence in Teaching Award

Jennifer LavyJennifer Lavy

Department: School of Drama

Courses Taught: Introduction to Drama, Play Analysis

Achievements: Lavy, a doctoral candidate in theater history and criticism, continually experiments with new ways to engage her students. Her philosophy emphasizes creating a classroom where students develop their own ideas and interests rather than focusing on what the teacher wants. She is one of the first School of Drama instructors to teach academic classes with new technology, such as the Web and online discussion boards. This year she is leading all post-show discussion sessions for the school's main stage productions. She is also the founder and co-artistic director of the Akropolis Performance Lab, an experimental company working in the tradition of Polish stage director and theatrical theorist Jerzy Grotowski. Prior to entering the UW's Ph.D. program, Lavy was the School of Drama's director of development and a managing director at Seattle's Freehold Studio/Theatre Lab.

Quote: "She has a depth of knowledge of her field so deep that she may draw parallels between The Simpsons and Ibsen's A Doll's House that both clarify the work at hand and enhance student interest. In addition to the breadth and depth of knowledge and the interest she brings . is her ability to draw great new things out of her students." -student Markus McVay

Degrees: B.A., University of Akron, 1991; M.A., University of Akron, 1996