TOP STORY: Winners of WATE Award

The Arts Faculty Award recognises the achievements of Warwick's outstanding educators who have enabled excellent learning, creating the conditions within which all students are supported and empowered to succeed and thrive.

Winner - Ian Farnell (Theatre and Performance Studies, School of Creative Arts, Performance and Visual Cultures)

My experiences as a student continue to inform my teaching practice. Central to this is my reliance on humour as a pedagogical tool – as noted in multiple research papers, laughter can create a welcoming and relaxed atmosphere in which students can confidently express themselves and interrogate their own preconceptions. I take my students’ learning seriously while approaching it lightly, and my caring, attentive and fun practice uniquely enables my students to grow as individuals, scholars and artists.

About Ian

Ian is an IAS Early Career Fellow and tutor in Theatre and Performance Studies. His thesis (completed in 2021 and funded by the Wolfson Foundation) explored British theatre and science fiction. Ian was a finalist for the 2021 WATE PGR and is delighted to be a WATE PGR winner.

Commended - Ronan Hatfull (Theatre and Performance Studies, School of Creative Arts, Performance and Visual Cultures)

My teaching ethos, methods, and experiences traverse disciplinary boundaries across both Theatre and English. I teach first-year Theatre students and my work on ‘Your Theatre and Performance Toolkit’ has had positive impact upon their learning. My signature pedagogy on the module ‘Remaking Shakespeare’ is open-space learning (OSL), and more recently I have run a collaborative workshop for the Resonate Festival with students and professional theatre-makers.

About Ronan

Ronan teaches at the University of Warwick and NYU London. He is also a theatre-maker and Artistic Director of Partners Rapt. Ronan is currently co-writing Shakespeare and Hip-Hop: Adaptation, Citation, Education, co-editing Shakespeare and Biofiction on the Contemporary Stage and Screen and developing a monograph on the Reduced Shakespeare Company.

Winner - David Coates (Theatre and Performance Studies, School of Creative Arts, Performance and Visual Cultures)

In my teaching I bring both my research interests and industry experience to the table to create engaging, relevant and challenging sessions for my students in modules that have appropriate and authentic assessment methods. I am passionate about developing students who have their fingers on the pulse of current debates, research and the industry. However, I believe that ‘being an ‘excellent teacher’ means more than being effective in the classroom’ (Mortiboys, 136). I hope that I can have a long-term impact on my students and the ethos of my department through championing the importance of the wider university student experience; better embedding wellbeing, careers, industry, employability, and skills within the curriculum; and collaborating with students to foster a meaningful sense of community in Theatre and Performance Studies (TPS).

About David

David is an Assistant Professor in Theatre and Performance Studies. He teaches and researches nineteenth-century theatre history, historiography, and queer theatre. As well as teaching core and specialist modules in the department, David has designed a skills-focused programme for first-year undergraduate students and an industry-focussed module in collaboration with Warwick Arts Centre.

More info here WATE Arts Winners (warwick.ac.uk)