A new journal, called Journal of College and Character is inviting students to submit their reflections on moral conflicts in college for web publication. Please write to M. Desler for more information on style, length, etc. The Summer Symposium in Molecular Biology, now in its 19th consecutive year at Penn State was created to bring distinguished speakers to campus so that PSU faculty didn't have to spend large sums of money to send students to conferences to hear those same speakers. We have produced a number of scenes, but none that depict the problems faced by LGBT persons. With that in mind, we are specifically looking for 'real life' stories at Penn State concerning LGBT women in science or engineering fields who are experiencing classroom climate problems and concerns.
Interactive theater is a fairly new concept on campus to discuss social issues such as date rape.
It has less often been used in the context of classroom and lab interactions showing real interchanges between students and faculty or instructors. After each scenario, experienced facilitators lead discussion of the issue or concern presented. Actors remain in their rolls for discussion purposes. This method allows various points of view to emerge as members of the audience speak from their own experiences as faculty, student, LGBT individual, or whomever. The scenarios written would not include any real individual's names or departments, but depict the general issue or problem, and would be part of a series of scenarios on classroom climate.