The Crucible | Summer Camp for Script Reading & Discussion

There are multiple learning goals in this class. The first is to read and understand Arthur Miller's  play "The Crucible," while also examining it through anti-racist and feminist lenses. Students will learn the history that shapes the play, including more about the Puritans, the Salem Witch Trials, and McCarthyism. Students will work with literary concepts such as allegory and metaphor, as well as learning and using common theater concepts and tools such as casting, scripts, and stage directions. There will be ample opportunities for critical thinking as we analyze and discuss the play and history and current events in relation to the play. 

I am currently enrolled in my final course through the Gettysburg College-Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History master of arts in American history program. In addition, I have bachelor of arts degrees in English, journalism, and political science. I was the director of a social justice center for three years during which time I routinely taught about and facilitated conversations about historical and current political events for both teen and adults participants. Before that, I was a newspaper editor and reporter for 15 years. I have been teaching history, social studies, and English Language Arts classes for the past five years. I am currently lead teacher at The Foster Woods Folk School, which focuses on education, storytelling, and the arts within an ecosocial justice framework aimed at celebrating and improving our connections as a global community of human and non-human earthlings. In this role, I work with learners of all ages with a primary focus of working with learners in grades three through 12.  

7 hours 30 minutes per week in class, and maybe some time outside of class.

Below are some of the sources consulted for the lecture portion of the course: 
Arthur Miller's "The Crucible" 
"Why I Wrote 'The Crucible'" - Arthur Miller in "The New Yorker" 
"Again They Drink From the Cup of Suspicion"- Arthur Miller in "The New York Times" 
"Massachusetts Clears 5 From Salem Witch Trials" - "The New York Times" 
"Stirring Up Trouble with ‘The Crucible’ | Challenging the Classics" - "School Library Journal" 
"CHAT: Disrupting 'The Crucible" - "Disrupt Texts"
"Tituba, Reluctant Witch of Salem: Devilish Indians and Puritan Fantasies" - Elaine G. Breslaw
"The Devil in the Shape of a Woman: Witchcraft in Colonial New England" - Carol F. Karlsen
"Double Portrayed: Tituba, Racism and Politics" - Önder Çakırtaş in "International Journal of Language Academy"
"Re(dis)covering the Witches in Arthur Miller's The Crucible: A Feminist Reading," - "Wendy Schissel" in "Modern Drama"
"Studio Theatre’s ‘John Proctor Is the Villain’ rethinks ‘The Crucible’" - "The Washington Post"
"The historical truth about women burned at the stake in America? Most were Black." - Kali Nicole Gross in "The Washington Post"
"Unraveling the Many Mysteries of Tituba, the Star Witness of the Salem Witch Trials" - Stacy Schiff in "Smithsonian Magazine"
"From Salem to McCarthy" - Chicago Public Library
"Have You No Sense of Decency?" - United States Senate
"McCarthyism and the Red Scare: A Reference Guide" - William T. Walker