Sojourn Theatre founder Michael Rohd to join ASU faculty
Rohd, founding director of the Center for Performance and Civic Practice, to co-lead Ensemble Lab
Michael Rohd, founding director of the Center for Performance and Civic Practice (CPCP) and the Sojourn Theatre company, will join Arizona State University’s Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts as Institute Professor, starting in fall 2016.
Rohd has worked around the nation to design and lead theatre-based community engaged, participatory projects and processes focused on social practice, civic practice and local capacity-building. He is a former faculty member at Northwestern University and held the Doris Duke artist residency at Chicago’s Lookingglass Theater Company.
Rohd, pictured at left, is the Herberger Institute’s second Institute Professor, and joins Liz Lerman whose was appointed to ASU’s faculty in spring 2016. As Institute Professor, Rohd will teach and work with Lerman and others as part of the “ensemble lab” — a think tank and platform for experimenting and collaborating with artists, scholars and community leaders from around the world to creatively address issues within and beyond the arts and the academy.
“I am delighted that Michael is coming to ASU as he brings deep insight into the way we understand community and social practice in the arts,” said Lerman. “He is a wonderful teacher and collaborator. I look forward to being challenged by his ideas and to work alongside him as joins the visionary work of the Herberger Institute faculty, staff and students who are forging such a new and dedicated path for the arts in civic life.”
In addition to his time on campus and developing ASU initiatives in the Phoenix area, Rohd will continue his work through the independent, nationally-focused, non-profit CPCP, which houses the award-winning Sojourn Theatre, pictured above. Both programs will be based at — and in frequent partnership with — ASU and the Herberger Institute. Under Rohd’s direction, the center and university will explore opportunities to continue their ongoing work to create arts-based, cross-sector civic practice programs.
“I am thrilled for the opportunity to be a part of the expansive vision ASU President Michael Crow and Herberger Institute Dean Steven Tepper are articulating in Arizona,” said Rohd. “It is a vision aligned with CPCP’s core values and existing programs.”
Top photo: Sojourn Theatre's "On the Table" presentation, which took place in Portland, Oregon. Photo courtesy Sojourn Theatre
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