Honored to be named a Josiah Meigs Distinguished Teaching Professor
Here's a great article describing my overall approach to teaching
https://news.uga.edu/george-contini/
So honored to stand beside these amazing teachers!
https://news.uga.edu/2019-meigs-professors/
Contini creates a learning environment based in applied creative research bringing his experience as a professional actor, director and playwright to his classroom and productions. He guides students through his specializations of characterization, acting on camera, solo performance, and queer theatre in classes that are collaborative and experiential. He is head of the acting area of theatre and film studies and serves as director of the department’s London study abroad program. He has directed 16 mainstage University Theatre productions, operas for the Hugh Hodgson School of Music and overseen many undergraduate and graduate students’ creative activities and research. Contini, who joined the UGA faculty in 2001, is a member of the UGA Teaching Academy and a recipient of the Beaver Award and the Russell Award.
A creative inspiration to students engaged in performance at all levels, George Contini exemplifies the scholarship of artistic training and the pursuit of excellence that sends so many on to professional careers on stage and screen.
“Whether I am working with undergrads on fundamental technique or graduates on advanced theory, I consider each student encounter a creative collaboration,” Contini said. “Blending theory into practice, I strive to be a model of the scholar/artist who engages in applied artistic research by building upon traditional performance history and techniques. As often as
possible, I seek to involve students experientially through my creative research. Throughout our shared experience they are also learning the art of forming a detailed process, documentation, and allowing for clear moments of reflection, adjustment, and growth.”
Contini involves students in a wide range of applied artistic research: delving into archives to create original plays; developing performances based on personal narratives from marginalized communities; character development through historical and embodied research; community-based international collaborations; and the reimagining of canonical dramatic work.
A committed mentor as well as a leader and working theatre professional, Contini is honored to enlist his specializations in acting, directing, and writing in pursuit of meeting the production, academic, and personal goals of burgeoning theatre and film artists.
Creating broad access to the richness of artistic expression, Contini introduces more esoteric aspects of theatre and performance in ways that make them immediate and easily understandable to both majors and non-majors. He created the extremely popular split-level undergraduate/graduate course in Queer Theatre and Film, which regularly attracts many students from other disciplines such as psychology, Women’s Studies, journalism, and sociology.
“Each time I witness George work with students, his deep knowledge of and passion for his subject radiates into a contagious enthusiasm for everyone in the room,” said associate professor Anthony Marotta. “When advising my graduate students, they often cite his class environment as something they aspire to create as they begin to formulate their own teaching styles. His straight forward and candid style, mixed with humor and joy, gives students an ability to consider difficult questions, and mature in their sense of confidence in their work and in the exploration of themselves.”
Since 2003, Contini has served as Director of the London Study Abroad Program. Under his guidance the program has expanded to include innovative programming that provides students with internships at theatre and production companies in London. He also serves as Head of Acting in the department of theatre and film studies.
Robert Moser, associate professor of Portuguese and director of the Portuguese Flagship Program, worked with Contini as a translator and collaborator on two interdisciplinary projects. Moser wrote in support of Contini, “Contini brings the kind of fearless creativity necessary to overcome formalities and immediately engage his students on a level that was both intellectually and critically challenging, as well as deeply committed to the craft of acting and theater productions. He is willing to take the same risks that he asks of his students, inspiring them to push the boundaries of their own creative process and critical analysis.”
A creative inspiration to students engaged in performance at all levels, George Contini exemplifies the scholarship of artistic training and the pursuit of excellence that sends so many on to professional careers on stage and screen.
“Whether I am working with undergrads on fundamental technique or graduates on advanced theory, I consider each student encounter a creative collaboration,” Contini said. “Blending theory into practice, I strive to be a model of the scholar/artist who engages in applied artistic research by building upon traditional performance history and techniques. As often as
possible, I seek to involve students experientially through my creative research. Throughout our shared experience they are also learning the art of forming a detailed process, documentation, and allowing for clear moments of reflection, adjustment, and growth.”
Contini involves students in a wide range of applied artistic research: delving into archives to create original plays; developing performances based on personal narratives from marginalized communities; character development through historical and embodied research; community-based international collaborations; and the reimagining of canonical dramatic work.
A committed mentor as well as a leader and working theatre professional, Contini is honored to enlist his specializations in acting, directing, and writing in pursuit of meeting the production, academic, and personal goals of burgeoning theatre and film artists.
Creating broad access to the richness of artistic expression, Contini introduces more esoteric aspects of theatre and performance in ways that make them immediate and easily understandable to both majors and non-majors. He created the extremely popular split-level undergraduate/graduate course in Queer Theatre and Film, which regularly attracts many students from other disciplines such as psychology, Women’s Studies, journalism, and sociology.
“Each time I witness George work with students, his deep knowledge of and passion for his subject radiates into a contagious enthusiasm for everyone in the room,” said associate professor Anthony Marotta. “When advising my graduate students, they often cite his class environment as something they aspire to create as they begin to formulate their own teaching styles. His straight forward and candid style, mixed with humor and joy, gives students an ability to consider difficult questions, and mature in their sense of confidence in their work and in the exploration of themselves.”
Since 2003, Contini has served as Director of the London Study Abroad Program. Under his guidance the program has expanded to include innovative programming that provides students with internships at theatre and production companies in London. He also serves as Head of Acting in the department of theatre and film studies.
Robert Moser, associate professor of Portuguese and director of the Portuguese Flagship Program, worked with Contini as a translator and collaborator on two interdisciplinary projects. Moser wrote in support of Contini, “Contini brings the kind of fearless creativity necessary to overcome formalities and immediately engage his students on a level that was both intellectually and critically challenging, as well as deeply committed to the craft of acting and theater productions. He is willing to take the same risks that he asks of his students, inspiring them to push the boundaries of their own creative process and critical analysis.”
