Course Syllabus
Contact Information
About Your Instructor
Sonia Dawkins, BFA, University of the Arts, MFA, SUNY Brockport, is founder and artistic director of SD|Prism Dance Theatre. The first African American female faculty member at Pacific Northwest Ballet, Ms. Dawkins has choreographed and directed in the United States, Jamaica, Bulgaria, Spain, France, and Mexico, and served as judge for the 2019 World Cup Dance Competition, Barcelona, Spain. Her selected choreography/directorial work includes Seattle Repertory Theatre, Village Theatre, Seattle Children’s Theatre, the Arena Stage, the Goodman Theatre, Pacific Northwest Ballet, and, at the Des Moines Performing Arts Center, “Pieces of My Heart,” based on August Wilson’s unpublished poetry. A recipient of the Gypsy rose Lee Award, as choreographer for “The Boy Who Kissed the Sky,” Ms. Dawkins was part of the full production actors and artistic team that was awarded the Suzi Bass Award.
For the past 25 years, the non-profit SD|Prism Dance Theatre, led by Dawkins’s artistry and collaborative spirit, has provided national and international performance opportunities, master classes, workshops, community outreach projects, and the studio space Segue LLC that offered an advanced enrichment program, classes, and workshops for the general public. Ms. Dawkins has recently established SD|Prism Pre-Professional Program with a unique international group of instructors and choreographers to engage the emerging dancer in developing their technique as well as their inner strength and pragmatic knowledge for the best chance to succeed as a dance professional. Her Board of Directors and Advisory Board have been actively involved for all 25 years of SD|Prism. Ms. Dawkins has taught at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, the University of Oklahoma, Cornish College of the Arts, and has guest taught at Towson University. Currently, Dawkins is choreographer at the Alvin Ailey Dance Theatre School/Fordham University and teaches dance at Baltimore School of the Arts.
Course Details
For a list of course activities, scroll to the bottom of this page.
Course Prerequisites
Students should have already taken AMGT 5013 Overview of Arts Management and Entrepreneurship.
Course Materials
- The 3rd edition of Business of Art: An Artist’s Guide to Profitable Self-Employment, 2020. [Do not purchase the book. Click on book title to download the PDFs of each chapter and all of the worksheets]. The book is published: Center for Cultural Innovation. If you would like the hardcopy of the book, please email Amy and she will send you a copy.
- Critique is creative: the critical response process in theory and action by Liz Lerman and John Borstel; edited by John Borstel. Note: You will need to use your OU 4x4/Net ID to access this library eBook. You do not need to purchase the book.
Grades
Breakdown
| Activity | Description | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Discussions | Brief scenario-based prompt to help students identify a gap and suggest a solution. Students respond with 3 posts (one original and 2 responses). These could consist of text, video or audio, or a slide-based presentation. | 10% |
| Live Session Participation or Fishbowl |
There are two ways in which you can earn points for the Live Session: Participate Live or Fishbowl (Make-Up). |
30% |
| Reports | 2-3 page documents containing prose, bulleted lists, charts, images, and tables as appropriate and addressed to a particular stakeholder. | 30% |
| Final Pitch Deck & Presentation | 10-12 slide document and presentation describing a scenario, defining a problem, explaining research, and suggesting solution(s). | 30% |
| Total | 100% |
Scale
| Percentage | Letter Grade |
|---|---|
| 90–100% | A |
| 80–89% | B |
| 70–79% | C |
| 60–69% | D |
| Below 60% | F |
Course Components
Module Overviews
Each Module Overview page will contain some introductory text to help you to contextualize your learning, learning objectives for the module, and a checklist of things you will need to complete within the module.
Resources
Each week, you will have resources which may include readings and videos. These will give you the basic information you need to do well on the assessments.
Discussions
Discussions will involve offering ideas and peer feedback for a combination of gap analysis practice for different organizations and worksheet brainstorms. Many of your classmates will have differing backgrounds, so you can offer one another insights that can help with mutual success in the course.
Worksheets
There are fillable PDF worksheets within each chapter of your textbook that will give you the chance to brainstorm and practice for your weekly report assignment.
All of our worksheets and assignments throughout the course are intended to build on each other so that you are compiling research, synthesizing analyses and developing recommendations for our client. As you become more familiar with the client and begin generating ideas for entrepreneurial solutions, your earlier worksheets act as reference tools. Additionally, you may want to update the content on your worksheets as you make more discoveries. This is the iterative and generative process that you would follow when working with a client and gain insights into the nuances of their arts business venture.
As we move through the worksheets in our textbook, you will notice that they are written for an individual artist to complete as they reflect on their own career and development of their arts business venture. For this course, we are utilizing these worksheets for our client which is an established non-profit arts organization. This slightly different use requires that you apply the concepts by interpreting the directions. For example: "your, me and mine" to phrases are converted into "their, us or our." In effect, we are thinking of the non-profit arts organization as a living entity, which is a concept that comes out of organizational development concepts.
Reports
This component will serve as your major assessment for each module’s learning, and it will be a document that is directed toward a stakeholder in an arts organization. These reports will build into your final project.
Live Sessions
During the Live Sessions, we will discuss concepts, define themes, and introduce the case study. This will help you to expand your learning and prepare you to apply the resources to real-world scenarios. You will also get the opportunity to share your personal experiences and engage in peer learning. If you can’t attend, you may participate in a “fishbowl” discussion board as a make-up assignment.
Final Pitch Deck & Presentation
You will build a pitch deck and presentation for an entrepreneurial solution based on your reports throughout the semester. This presentation will either be given during the last Live Session, or you will pre-record a video that you will submit to the professor. You will also submit your pitch deck.
Course Policies
Communication
Please contact me via email at the address listed at the top of the syllabus. I will reply within 12 hours Monday-Friday and within 48 hours over the weekend.
I prefer to be addressed by my first name, Sonia. My role in this course is guide, facilitator and sometimes host. Each member of the class brings expertise, knowledge and experience that contributes to our "community of practice," so I do not expect that I am always the "smartest person in the room." In this classroom, we each contribute to the learning environment.
As an extrovert, I think out loud. However, I have learned that there are times for extroverts to step back and make room. For those of us who might be more introverted, I invite you to step forward. We can make space for everyone by listening to hear, forming our responses before stating them out loud and using both our verbal and written voice to communicate our contributions to class discussions.
Feedback
I provide written feedback and grades within one week of activity and assignment submission. Feedback will reflect my thoughts and ideas from the dual lenses of professionalism and academic excellence. When I offer observations and suggestions, it is with the intention of increasing the clarity of your work.
Late Policy
As with a professional job, I expect that you will reach out to me by email or text if you are running late on an assignment. I consider these communications as a demonstration of professionalism. Within the first 24-hours, your work will not receive any point deductions. After the first 24-hours, your work will receive an automatic point deduction for each consecutive day that it is late. All work does need to be completed because our assignments build on each other.
Plagiarism
In academic, professional and creative settings, plagiarism is unacceptable. Citing all sources indicates that you have conducted research to support your ideas and proposals. Including other people's words and images in your work is helpful when you do it honestly and correctly. When you don't, it's plagiarism. Taking credit for other people's work, when it is not your own, is not only unethical, it is stealing.
For more information about plagiarism, watch this video and then take this short course offered by University Libraries.
University Academic Policies and Student Support
Access the University Academic Policies Document.
Course Summary:
| Date | Details | Due |
|---|---|---|