Courses Taught & Teacher Effectiveness
(chronologically ordered)
International Baccalaureate (IB) Higher Level (HL) Literature (2021-present), The Calverton School
In this course, literary, non-literary, visual, and performance texts will be our sole focus. They will provide for us a focus for understanding how meaning is constructed within belief and value systems. We will examine how they are negotiated across multiple perspectives by single or multiple readers. All texts may be understood in relation to their form, content, purpose, audience, and their associated contexts, such as social, historical, and cultural circumstances. This course will develop your language usage, level of analysis, and ability to critically reflect. The course is organized into three areas of exploration and seven central concepts, and focuses on the study of literary works. Together, the three areas of exploration of the course add up to a comprehensive exploration of literature from a variety of cultures, literary forms and periods. Students learn to appreciate the artistry of literature, and develop the ability to reflect critically on their reading, presenting literary analysis powerfully through both oral and written communication.
Upper School Theatre (2021-present), The Calverton School
This course ranges from methods on improvisation, Viewpoints, Sitcom writing, the rehearsal process, and backstage support. The IB Diploma Programme theatre course is a multifaceted theatre-making course. It gives students the opportunity to make theatre as creators, designers, directors and performers. It emphasizes the importance of working both individually and as part of an ensemble.
Writing Workshop (2022-present), The Calverton School
This is a new course component we developed in order to partner with 10th grade students in their History class as they finish a final research paper. This work creates a bridge for students about to enter the IB program the following year and it has allowed for me to become acquainted with the 10th grade class and assess their strengths, as they will be entering IB Literature the next semester.
Extended Essay (2022-present), The Calverton School
We created a new course for 11th and 12th grade students to guide them through the process of writing an extended essay, an independent, self-directed piece of research, finishing with a 4,000-word paper. This is one component of the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Programme (DP) core and is mandatory for all students.
Writing the Sitcom (2018), University of Kansas
(A Sitcom Writing student’s tattoo of Mary Tyler Moore. Compliments of Jordan McIntire)
This course is an interdisciplinary examination of popular culture oriented around sitcom writing. Subjects of study will include popular forms of single and multi-camera 30-minute comedies currently on the air. This course will demonstrate how sitcom writing is a strategy to mark the state of race, class, gender, sexuality, and ability in 21st century U.S. culture. This is a writing course where students will analyze sitcom structure, write a treatment, and walk away with a spec script that can be submitted to writing programs and contests.
PROPOSED COURSE:
THR XXX - Performing Individualism and Power on American and German Stages
Intro to Theatre (2014-2018), University of Kansas
In this course students learn about theatre and its cultural significance while developing a deeper appreciation and understanding of theatre as experience. This class is designed to meet KU Core Goal 3 in the Arts and Humanities: Develop a background of knowledge across fundamental areas of study. The class is composed of discussion, lecture, performance projects, and theatre attendance.
Intro to Playwriting, Oral Roberts University
This course surveys the current styles and genres of short plays and films. It examined the basics of dramatic writing, including plot, conflict, format, characterization, and dialogue. Students studied the process of developing a short play from concept to performance. The first half of the semester was dedicated towards reading plays and engaging with writing exercises. The second half focussed on writing workshops where students had ample time to hear their words read aloud.
Fundamentals of Scriptwriting, Oral Roberts University
This course teaches the basics of dramatic scriptwriting for television and film. There is a focus on conflict, format, characterization, and dialogue. In groups, students wrote a half-hour spec script. Individually, they wrote 10-minute short films. This is a course where students are asked to analyze stories through the lens of their own worldview. When I taught this at a conservative, Christian institution, it was my role to encourage students to think critically and to value the lives, expressions, and beliefs of others. As storytelling creates sympathy in students for individuals not like themselves, inclusivity and equity become possible, as markers of race, gender, sexual orientation, and religious beliefs are no longer seen as points of contention. By influencing students of privilege and agency, hearing the stories of the voiceless becomes a real possibility.
Anonymous Student Feedback
Would you take another course with this instructor?
“Martin is the best professor I have had all semester. Our entire class was willing to stay late in class and finish things up because we like the class, we like the professor, and we feel like we are learning. MMI students are willing to put in more when they know that what they are doing isn’t a waste of their time.
What was most rewarding about this course?
“Learning how to write a script! This class showed me how to do something I never thought I would be able to do.”
“Listening to the different views of the students and the professor regarding films, and Christian films, etc. I enjoy the discussion that we have regarding our scripts.”
“Practical application of skills and ideas taught were used for evaluation, rather than rote tests.”
Theatre History I & II, Oral Roberts University
Theses two courses, which stretched the span of two semesters, were a study of the history of theatre from the Greeks to 18th Century English Theatre and the from 1800 to the present. Theses course provided an in-depth study of the plays, playwrights, physical theatre, social structure, and theatre criticism of each time. It surveyed the social, political, religious, and theatrical aspects of each period to give context to their place in the development of modern drama.
Anonymous Student Feedback
“I never thought I would try so hard in a class to be excellent.”
“Chris Martin often asks the students how their weeks are going or encourages them about different performances they have given on campus.”
Theatre Lecture, University of Arkansas
This class is an exploration into the basic components of the theatre. The class does not always consist of lectures, or even as a survey, as the title suggests. Rather, this course is a hands-on study of these components. In the spirit of theatre functioning as an interactive art form, which requires active participation, this class encourages participation, along with each student’s personal creative spirit, in order to demonstrate how theatre plays an integral part of society.