St. Edward’s Goes to Scotland

In July, 15 students representing a variety of majors — Theater Arts, Business and Global Studies — spent four weeks at Queen Margaret University in Edinburgh, Scotland, as part of a faculty-led study abroad program designed to introduce students to the world of festival management. Led by Assistant Professor of Acting and Voice Sheila Gordon, the students volunteered at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the world’s largest arts festival.

Learning the Festival Business

Gordon says she designed the trip to help Theater Arts students become savvier in the business world and experience, firsthand, the monetary value of their work. At the same time, Business and Global Studies students were introduced to a broader spectrum of culture.

The students spent their weeks immersed in two courses:

• Festival Events Management: A crash course with events management guru and distinguished alumnus Joe Goldblatt CSEP ’75 in the intricacies of festival management, including safety, sponsors, vendors, marketing, tickets and fundraisers.
• Cultural Foundations: An introduction to global theater arts, including the differences in cultural art forms and traditions, styles of performance, and international playwrights and directors.

The final project involved creating a fictional theater company, developing a show and budget, and marketing it to the festival. How did it turn out?

“It was fantastic!” says Global Studies major Samantha Cook ’12. “We learned the mechanics behind taking a show from a basic idea to festival-ready in just four weeks.”

Gaining a Global Perspective

St. Edward’s emphasizes global awareness in every aspect of education — from classroom assignments to Campus Ministry trips to university-wide events. In 2008�2009, students studied abroad in 27 countries. In addition to faculty-led trips, St. Edward’s offers semester-long exchange programs in Argentina, Germany, Mexico and Scotland. Students can also study abroad at St. Edward’s in Angers, France.

 

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