California Lutheran University welcomed Christine Cummings as the new assistant professor of theater arts at the beginning of the 2024-2025 school year.ย
Cummings has over 30 years of experience in the theater and teaching field, and said her love for theater is long-standing, tracing back to her first appearance as Miss Hannigan in the musical โAnnieโ at 12 years old.ย
Since then, Cummings has always been involved in theater in some capacity, earning a bachelorโs degree in Theatre Arts at California State University, Fullerton, and a masterโs degree in Acting at Illinois State University. Cummings said she has taught at 15 different institutions, and most recently led the program at Mount San Antonio College for the past decade.
Andrea Heilman, an associate professor of theater arts, said Cummings has taken on various roles since coming to Cal Lutheran.
โShe teaches things such as voice and movement for acting. In addition to some of our acting classes this semester, she is also teaching history and she is directing for โRumors,โโ Heilman said, referencing Cummingsโ directorial debut at Cal Lutheran.ย
Cummings brings with her a list of hopes and goals for her time at Cal Lutheran.ย
โI definitely want to create a greater sense of unity and family and togetherness for the theater department,โ Cummings said.
According to Cummings, she established an equity and diversity program for her previous institutionโs theater department, and she wishes to do the same at Cal Lutheran.ย
Cummings said diversity and inclusion are important in the class and theater setting, and said she intends to implement these practices into her teaching and time at Cal Lutheran in various ways.
โThe material we have in class and the plays that we produce on our main stage should reflect the stories and the characters and the people that look like our students,โ Cummings said. โAnd make sure that you’re using universal practices and teaching so that everybody, no matter what their learning style is, where they come from, any kind of issues that they have with learning, just make sure that your learning style, in general, can appeal to all potential students that you might have in front of you. And that needs to be universal.โ
Alongside cultivating a more welcoming, inclusive environment for students, Cummings said she has several other goals, including making sure that all studentsโ voices are heard and taken into account.ย
โWhen we are together there, whoever they are, wherever they come from, whatever their background, whoever they are, they are welcome in my space and our space exactly as they are. And that when they are in my classroom, they do not have to apologize for any of that and that they are expected to respect each other for being exactly who they are,โ Cummings said. โThis is not my department, โฆ it’s not the faculty’s department. This is the student’s department.โ
Cummings said that her desire for inclusion within the department extends past just the classroom, but also takes priority on the stage performances.ย
โI want to make sure that [the] plays represent diverse playwrights, represent diverse stories, represent different kinds of genres so that our students who are working on our main stage are getting the skills they need for any kind of theater that they might encounter outside of Cal Lutheran,โ Cummings said.
Cummings said she hopes to incentivize non-theater-related majors to get involved in the department, as she believes that theater skills are important no matter what one’s career path may be.ย
โI’ve had a bunch of non-majors in some of my classes right now and they’re learning theater skills and they’re gonna be able to use that in business or in education or psychology or criminal justice,โ Cummings said. โTheater skills are so universal that I’m really hoping to promote our classes to the campus at large so that people realize that you don’t have to be a theater major to benefit from theater classes.โ
Currently, Cummings is teaching six courses within theater arts at Cal Lutheran. Those classes range from Beginning Acting to Mainstage Production. Many of the courses fulfill requirements under the IDEAS program at Cal Lutheran, allowing non-theater major students to also participate.ย
โHer passion for this career path is very contagious. She seems to be a team player, seems to be a great advocate for student success, and again, her motivation and drive and enthusiasm. She has a lot of background knowledge in her field. She’s an expert, and her personality fits well,โ Noelle Porter, an associate professor of theater arts, said.
