Eric Love

Assistant Professor of Theatre and Speech

Since 2008

Background: B.A. in English at Sewanee – The University of the South; M.A. in theatre history with an emphasis in directing and a minor in speech and criticism at Texas State University; ran a theatre company—Bent Spectacles—in Austin Texas for a few years, before earning my PhD in Theatre at the University of Missouri with a minor in College Teaching. Throughout that time I freelanced in acting, voice acting, directing, and performing my one-man show, The Rambling Nut.

I have always wanted to work in the small liberal arts college environment. Having attended a small liberal arts college in Tennessee myself, the posting for the job intrigued me.

When I came to Athens and met the Fine Arts Department and Dean Hine, I was inspired by their professionalism and heart, and how much they loved their students. I also was impressed with the students themselves during my interview visit and teaching demonstration. The emphasis at TWC is on students and student-faculty interaction, and that was the aspect I cherished most from my own undergraduate experience. I also believe strongly in an Honor Code and was encouraged by Wesleyan's emphasis on such a code.

As for the area of theatre, my goal is to continue to expand campus and community interest in theatre as we establish a program that is unique to this region, eventually expanding into our own major and department. The theatre program at Wesleyan is unique in our region as the only program completely dedicated to new work and original performance pieces.

Southern Appalachia is full of rich, meaningful voices and stories that we seek to give life by bringing them to the stage. In fall 2010 we started the college's first TEN FOR TENN Festival, which features all new, original work by Tennessee writers, or plays featuring the great State of Tennessee. The Festival is 10 performances of 10, 10-minute plays with Tennessee writers and/or themes. The Festival begins its run on the Wesleyan campus the last week of October and end its run at the Sue E. Trotter Theatre at the Athens Area Council for the Arts the first week of November.

In spring 2011, we will have our third installment of the TENNESSEE WESLEYAN COLLAGE series. In 2009 we saw WORKS IN PROGRESS and in 2010 we presented SOS—STORIES OF SURVIVAL. The TENNESSEE WESLEYAN COLLAGE series takes real-life stories from our students—from the hilarious to the harrowing—and brings them to the stage. Our students have had extraordinary life experiences that both entertain and instruct and make for a compelling theatrical experience. Auto/biographical personal narrative performance is one of the hottest forms of theatre nationally and internationally, but is largely unrepresented in our region of the country. As we seek to put unique, original work on stage, we also seek to bring to our campus and the people of our community the kind of theatre they cannot see anywhere else in our region.

My favorite part of my job is collaborating with my students to bring something unique and special to the stage. I also love working with students in Intro to Speech class as they develop their communication skills and discover they can do this! Not to mention how much I love seeing students discover and reach their potential as scholars, artists and citizens.

The theatre program is completely student-oriented—there's almost nothing we do that I could do without their support and involvement. Alumni have been involved in theatre productions and have submitted plays to the TEN FOR TENN Festival.

I cannot speak for the entire Fine Arts Department, which includes the areas of music, art and theatre, and I do not want to put words in the mouths of my colleagues, other than to say we have enjoyed collegial collaboration in the past and I expect it will continue into the future. I see continued collaboration and growth of all three areas—we have very dedicated and talented faculty AND students, and the sky is the limit. The strengths of the Department are the talent and dedication of all involved and the support of the community and campus.

New students should know that if a tight, supportive community and an education based on close collaboration with an engaged faculty is not what they are looking for, they should not consider TWC. I don't say that to be facetious or ironic—not every student wants the college experience where they know most of their fellow students and actually get to know their faculty well and work closely with them. I would advise the student who elects to come to TWC to get as involved as possible. There are so many opportunities for life enrichment here, and you should take advantage of your years at TWC in every way possible.

I believe it is important volunteer my time outside of my "day job." I work with the Athens Area Council for the Arts on occasion, and am active in my Church—St. Paul's Episcopal. I am also active in the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival for the Southeast region, as well as the Southeastern Theatre Conference. Finally, one of the highlights of my professional life outside TWC is working with the WordBRIDGE Playwrights Laboratory. WordBRIDGE is dedicated to working with emerging playwrights to develop promising new work for the American stage, and has branched out internationally as well. It's an opportunity to work with talented playwrights, directors, dramaturges, and actors for the sole purpose of empowering new playwrights and new plays. You can learn more at www.wordbridge.org.