Presented for an audience on 20 February 2016 as part of TEDxUTK 2016 Ideas Worth Spreading at the McClung Museum of Natural History and Culture in Knoxville, TN. Lead event organizers: Katie Rogers and Patrick Caveney

John Ferguson has spent 40 years as a professional actor/educator. He received two bachelor’s degrees from the University of Tennessee, in Theatre and French, and a master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction with an emphasis in ESL from George... John Ferguson has spent 40 years as a professional actor/educator. He received two bachelor’s degrees from the University of Tennessee, in Theatre and French, and a master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction with an emphasis in ESL from George Mason University. From his first job as a joint CETA position with the Birmingham City Schools and the Birmingham Children’s Theatre, to his current position as Theatre Arts Instructor at Fulton High School in Knoxville, theatre in education has been a focus of his career; or rather theatre as education. The bulk of his professional training was in Atlanta with the Academy and the Alliance Theatres. At both the Birmingham and Academy positions, John travelled extensively across the rural south in touring productions, leading workshops, as well as acting and directing in artist-in-residence projects. His one-man show on Robert Burns, Rab the Rhymer, toured extensively across the Southeast to arts councils, festivals, and college and university campuses. The show also was also presented at the Edinburgh Theatre Fringe Festival and the Spoletto Festival in Charleston, and was a feature production of Georgia Public Television. John has performed twice in the Avignon Theatre Festival in France, where he lived for a time with his two sons. John was also a regular performer with the Clarence Brown Theatre for more than two decades. John continues his regional focus today, having most recently directed his production of Zombie Macbeth at both Fulton and the Averett Center for the Performing Arts in Statesboro, Georgia. As the consistent foundation of his professional direction and philosophy, John has eschewed a career in perhaps a more self-serving venue like New York or L.A. and has chosen instead to work with theatre in and with communities and individuals, using theatre not as a search for stardom and fame, but rather as a medium for individual expression, social awareness, and change.