Deric McNish, 2018-19 Adams Fellow
Deric McNish earned his MFA from the conservatory at Case Western and the Cleveland Play House and his PhD from the University of Colorado Boulder. Deric’s work focuses on the scholarship of inclusive, accessible, and interdisciplinary teaching and learning. He develops performance-based approaches to English language learning and he works to make the creative process accessible to people with disabilities. Publications include Training Actors with Disabilities, which appears in New Directions in Teaching Theatre Arts (Palgrave Macmillan), Performance of Fluency, which appears in the Voice and Speech Review, A Moving Target: Success and the Reset Button, which appears in Perform: Succeeding as a Creative Professional (Focal Press), and his upcoming co-authored book, Teaching With Drama(University of Michigan Press). As Senior Editor of the International Dialects of English Archive, Deric contributes to a growing digital collection of international voice samples.
Deric has narrated several audiobooks and performed on stage in national tours and at theatres including the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, the Porthouse Theatre, the Cleveland Play House, and the Metropolitan Opera. On camera work includes Guiding Light (CBS), Third Watch (NBC), and several independent films. Deric directed several productions at Michigan State and The Summer Circle Theatre, including multiple devised and world premiere musicals and plays. Deric has worked as a dialect coach for professional theatres in New York and Michigan.
Deric received the 2018 AT&T Award for Innovation in Instructional Technology, the 2017 Innovation and Leadership Award for Faculty, the 2017 Fintz Award for Teaching Excellence in the Arts and Humanities, and the 2016 Dudley Knight Award for Outstanding Vocal Scholarship. He received a fellowship for the 2018-19 Adams Academy for Instructional Excellence and Innovation.