Presbyterian College theatre professor shares excitement about strengthening the performing arts program to better support students
The performing arts have been a lifelong passion for professor of theatre Miriam Ragland, who grew up dancing until a broken ankle put an end to her ballet career.
Ragland wasn’t stopped by her injury, though. Still feeling called to perform, she auditioned for a play in her senior year of high school, where she fell in love with theatre and everything it had to offer.
Following her heart
Ragland’s first introduction to being an educator was her master’s program in directing, which heavily revolved around teaching and instructing.
“I have an MFA in directing, and it was very focused on teaching. I had a teaching assistantship as part of it as well,” she said. “That’s when I realized that my place was in the classroom.”
On the tail end of a year-long stint in Seattle as a freelance artist, Ragland came to the realization that freelancing wasn’t what her heart desired – teaching was.
From that moment forward, she began applying to positions all over the country, including at Presbyterian College, which she came to visit after being extended an offer.
Despite being on the other side of the country, the campus immediately felt like home.
“I came and visited campus, and I just fell in love,” she said.
Since then, Ragland has been at the college for 24 years, teaching classes such as Introduction to Theatre, Theatre for Social Change, and African American Theatre.
It’s exciting for all of us to come together as one artistic unit, and to work together to make the performing arts at PC stronger than it’s ever been.”
Miriam Ragland, Professor of Theatre
Looking into the future
Recently, Ragland’s passion project has been refurbishing the black box theatre that’s been sitting unused in Harper Arts Center for several years, a stepping stone to rebuilding the theatre program as a whole.
Another stepping stone has been PC’s partnership with Laurens County Community Theatre, who will be performing a show every spring, with PC performing a show every fall.
Ragland and her colleagues couldn’t be more excited about building the arts program at Presbyterian College, having combined art, music, and theatre to become the Department of Visual and Performing Arts.
“It’s exciting for all of us to come together as one artistic unit, and to work together to make the performing arts at PC stronger than it’s ever been,” she said.
