Professor James L. DeYoung
Professor James L. De Young was Director of Theatre and served in the Communication and Theatre Arts Department from 1963-2002. During those years he directed close to one hundred plays. Most of those plays were performed in the college's Little Theatre, a charming but ill-heated structure that was replaced in 1990 by the Wells Theatre. De Young was instrumental in planning the new building and helping to raise the money for its construction.
He chaired the CATA Department* from 1975-1987. He was elected to the first Faculty Senate** in the 1960's and served three more times on the Senate, chairing it twice. He also served on and chaired the Personnel Committee, the Curriculum Committee, the Petitions and Academic Status Committee, and the Grievance Committee on multiple occasions. He received the Sears Roebuck Award for Teaching and Campus Leadership in 1991.
Externally his career was notable for publishing a book for students and travelers titled London Theatre Walks, winning two National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Fellowships and securing two appointments to lead the Associated Colleges of the Midwest's Arts of London program. He worked closely on the development of the Associated Colleges of the Midwest's Chicago Semester in the Arts Program and was selected as the inaugural faculty fellow when that program debuted in 1989. He served on the governing board of the Theatre as a Liberal Art interest group of the Association for Theatre in Higher Education for many years. He also served on the board of the Illinois Theatre Association and received a distinguished service citation from them in 1996.
* Note of interest by Dr. DeYoung: The CATA Department has changed names four times since the 1960s and the changes tend to reflect the relative importance of interest areas and the development of the academic discipline of Speech. When I came to Monmouth we were the "Speech Department." To reflect the existence of theatre and the development of the social science aspects of communication, John Foxen changed the name to "Speech Communication Arts." When I became chair we altered again to “SCAT " or “Speech Communication and Theatre Arts" for even more specific attention to theatre. Then finally to CATA "Communication Arts and Theatre" as we completed the elimination of the word "Speech" from the lexicon. This might make a fascinating little paper topic all by itself. My guess is other departments have gone through similar linguistic gymnastics over the years as they tried to both legitimize and/or re-define themselves. A fascinating side element would be my fight with Bruce Haywood over how to spell theatre. As you can see in the catalog and on the building, I lost.
** Another note of interest on the Faculty Senate. The re-organized Faculty Senate was not sent down on a stone tablet. It was a highly politicized operation and the election was fiercely contended with small cabals meeting here and there to figure out how to get votes. All ranks had to be represented and thus at least one lowly instructor had to be elected and that one turned out to be me. Prior to that time the faculty hierarchy was surmounted by a group of senior faculty chairs, appointed I would think, by the President and the
Dean. It was called the Policy Committee. Sam Thompson and Garvin Davenport are two names that stick in my mind as stalwarts. In the plebe's minds they sort of ran the place ie. they chose the committees, parceled out the work of the faculty, and quietly took care of the nasties when they occurred. They appeared to be entrenched, all knowing, and secretive at the time, but were probably not much different than we were thirty years later.
CURRICULUM VITAE
April 15, 2004
James L. De Young, PhD
Professional Address:
Professor Emeritus: Communication and Theatre Arts
Monmouth College, 700 E. Broadway
Monmouth, IL 61462
E-mail:Jim@monm.edu FAX:309-457-2310
Home Address
1101 East Broadway
Monmouth, IL 61462
Phone: 309-734-5529 E-mail Jdeyoung@maplecity.com
EDUCATIONAL AND/OR PROFESSIONAL TRAINING
B.A. 1959 Beloit College
Speech and Theatre, with an English minor
M.A. 1960 Bowling Green State
Theatre Arts
PhD 1974 University of Minnesota
Theatre Arts and Directing Comparative Drama
SPECIAL AREAS OF COMPETENCE AND INTEREST
Stage Directing, Theatrical History and Drama (especially British), Theatrical Criticism, Photography, and Travel.
EMPLOYMENT HISTORY (Teaching)
1963-2002 Professor of Communication
Monmouth College and Theatre Arts
Monmouth, IL Chair of Department 1975-1987
Director of Theatre 1963-2002
1960-1963 Instructor of Speech and English
Hope College Technical Director of Theatre
Holland, MI
SPECIAL HONORS
PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATION MEMBERSHIPS
THEATRICAL EXPERIENCE
1960 (summer) Lighting Director and Actor
Huron Playhouse, Huron, OH
1960-3 Technical Director and Designer
Hope College Theatre
Holland, MI
1962 (summer) Asst. Technical Director
Beloit College Court Theatre
Beloit, WI
1963-2002 Administrator of the Monmouth College Theatre
Program and Director/Designer/Technical Director
for almost 100 productions
1974 (Summer) Director, and Business Manger for
Showboat Players, Clinton, IA
1978-85 Founder and Managing Director
Monmouth College-Community Summer Dinner Theatre
1992 Guest Director Monmouth College-Community Summer
Dinner Theatre
PUBLICATIONS
Britain). Spring, 1975.
UNPUBLISHED WORK
CONVENTION AND CONFERENCE PAPERS
San Francisco. August, 1984. "Seeking Theatre Program
Vitality Through Resource Interchange Networks."
Toronto, Canada. August, 1985. "The Value of Practicums in
Theatre Education."
April, 1986. "Using the Computer for Audience Development."
the Freshman Year. Cedar Rapids. October, 1986. "Theatre
Arts as a Model Experiential Learning Activity."
1988. "The History of Pollock's Toy Theatres and How to Use
Them in Classroom Instruction."
January, 1990. "Using Improvisation as a Teaching Tool."
Festival. January, 1993. "Minding Your Own Business--
Textual Clues for the Young Actor in the work of Anton
Chekhov."
"London's Rose Theatre."
1994, "Project! Using your voice at high levels without
strain."
1995. "Visiting London's New Globe Theatre."
Fall, 1998. "The Greco-Roman Theatres of Turkey."
Toronto, Fall 1999. "Teaching the Traditional Survey Course
in Theatre History."
Washington DC, August 2000. "Integrating Theatre into
Liberal Arts Freshman Seminar Programs."
July, 2002 "BFA vs. a Liberal Arts Theatre degree. Pros
and Cons."
July, 2002 "Selecting Seasons for Liberal Arts Theatre
Programs."
FACULTY COMMITTEE AND ADMINISTRATIVE EXPERIENCE
Faculty Senate--Elected to serve four times. Chaired twice. Grievance Committee--Elected three times. Chaired once.
Curriculum Committee--Chaired four times over the years. Personnel Committee--Served four terms. Chaired twice. Admissions and Academic Status Committee. Chaired twice.
OTHER RECENT ACTIVITIES
Institute of America in September, 1985. "London: The
Modern Waterfront"
Summer 1994, 1999, 2000, 2002 to see current productions and
revise theatre walking tours.
Theatre History Course
1990. "A Photographic Cruise Down the Nile."
the Illinois High School Theatre Festival in January, 1993
Archaeological Society. Spring, 1997. The Building of London's new Globe.
of America on the History and Development of the Shakespeare
Globe Reconstruction. 2001.
· Served as an adjudicator for productions competing for inclusion
in the Illinois High School Theatre Festival and the
American College Theatre Festival over several years.
· Art Presenter for the AAUW Art Presenter program in 2003-2004 and
several past years.
· Current President (2004-2006) of the Board of Directors of the
Grace Buchanan Center for the Arts. (A foundation that
administers a $1,000,000 bequest to Warren County Arts
Activities and functions as the Illinois Arts Council Re-
granting Agency for Warren County, IL.)
· Travel lectures to local groups and service clubs on England,
Egypt, Scandinavia, and other foreign and/or domestic
locations.
· Co-founder, Old Friends Talk Art, Monmouth College, 2003