Christopher Staley, PhD (2023)
Why did you decide to go to graduate school?
I knew since my undergraduate training at Skidmore College that I wanted to become a Professor. I had fallen in love with performance and directing, yes, but I think somewhere I was more interested in how my instructors were teaching me. After undergrad, I directly went into my Master’s at the American Repertory Theatre/Moscow Art Theatre Institute for Advanced Theatre Training at Harvard University. I wanted some time away from school before getting my doctorate. Taking that time in between ultimately made the decision to get my PhD feel more like a choice rather than an inevitability.
Why did you choose to pursue your degree at Pitt?
Pitt had so many appealing qualities: an urban location that still had a big sprawling campus vibe; excellent faculty who either were directly researching what I wanted to study, or could help shepherd my own independent research; a true mix of theory, history, and practice; the “special option” track, now the immersive component; and of course, the vibrancy of a city like Pittsburgh.
How did the degree program help prepare you for your career?
I don’t know where to begin. Even though I knew all of the appealing qualities listed above prior to applying, I had no means of appreciating what that meant for me. I think perhaps the thing that helped me most of all was the flexibility, autonomy, and self-determination that I was afforded by faculty. I came into the program declaring that I wanted to study something that ultimately was very different than the dissertation I ultimately defended. I remember calling my original plan of study my “secondary research” and Dr. Michelle Granshaw wisely told me that it’s not secondary and not less important — just different based on my changing context. It freed me up to move onto something else, knowing those first few years of research were never lost. Lastly, I should note that Michelle’s professional development seminar was so invaluable to any and all of my successes in academia.
What is your current position and what does it involve?
I am currently Assistant Professor of Movement at Texas Tech University. I teach BA, BFA, MFA, and PhD students in performance and pedagogy. My main courses are a series of movement and acting classes centered on the Suzuki Method of Actor Training, Viewpoints, and Stanislavskian Active Analysis. I also am the Artistic Director of The Marfa Intensive, and Associate Area Head of Theatre Performance.
Thoughts and/or advice for current graduate students?
In my first semester, then student and now alumnus, Dr. Diego Villada, gave me the best advice. He said that in my first year, my job was just to read, read, read. His advice gave me permission to slow down, think about pace and sustainability, and not feel like I had to do everything immediately. Also I remember a passing discussion in Dr. Patrick McKelvey’s seminar about queer temporality — that, generally speaking, we all have to do things on our own timeline, our own pace, and by our own definition of “success.” It helped me accept that no PhD journeys are the same and mine didn’t need to look like anyone else’s.