Identity, spirituality explored
Georgia College professor delves into his own life to unearth studies and performances, garners nationally recognized award through his work
AubrieSofala | gcsunade.com- Professor Scott Dillard instructs a rhetoric class. Recently, he was given an award for his research of the gay male identity, HIV/AIDS and spirituality.
Gay identity, spirituality and HIV/AIDS are running themes throughout much of Scott Dillard’s research. However, these are also themes which weave themselves in and out of Dillard’s own life.
Dillard, associate professor of rhetoric, gives spectators an unique perspective of these issues through his articles and solo performances.
Dillard was recently named the 2011 recipient of the National Communication Association’s Randy Majors Memorial Award.
John Heineman, a friend and colleague of Dillard’s from Nebraska, nominated him for this award.
According to the National Communication Association’s GLBTQ Caucus (Gay Lesbian Bisexual Transgender and Queer) website, “This award is specifically for recognizing individuals who have made outstanding contributions to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and/or transgender scholarship in communication studies.”
Chair of the Department of English and Rhetoric Elaine Whitaker says she believes Dillard received the award not just for the subject matter but for his knowledge and dedication to these issues.
“I think what he got the award for is the way he encourages other people who are GLBT,” Whitaker said. “It’s not really an award for AIDS advocacy, it’s just the general way in which he advances and I think for everybody else, for those who don’t experience what he’s experiencing.”
Dillard says that through his performance and pieces of writing he touches
the correlations between the gay male identity, HIV/AIDS and spirituality.
“Well, mostly what I sort of look at is how, in dealing with HIV, lots of gay men actually have more of a spiritual awakening,” Dillard said. “So that spirituality helps them with that sort of crisis in their life, and so they come out to the other side of that as different people then when they started.”
Dillard is a well-known critic and performer and is widely known within the performance festival community. He has also directed and performed in many plays within the Milledgeville community as well as in many other states.
He is best known for his solo performance “Breathe With Me,” which was the stepping off point for his article in the Text and Performance Quarterly titled “Breathing Darrell: Solo Performance as Contribution to a Useful Queer Mythology.”
The performance and article discuss the loss of his partner Darrell to AIDS and further gay male spirituality.
Through his studies on HIV/AIDS, Dillard says that his writing and performances focus more on the emotional and psychological impact that HIV/AIDS has on a person.
“It’s how people deal with it and incorporate it as a part of their life. I’m usually coming from a very personal place with it,” Dillard said.
“What I’ve been focused on is really that spiritual element and how that spiritual element is really the aid in being part of a whole and healthy person living with HIV.”
Amy Burt, associate professor of rhetoric, has known Dillard for 22 years and says that the two went to graduate school together at Southern Illinois University.
“That was really exciting to get that kind of national recognition. It is just really impressive and he has done really impressive work with GLBTQ caucus of the NCA,” Burt said. “A lot of that work is time consuming, and it’s thankless, and so for him to get that kind of recognition, it is a nice affirmation that what he has done has made a difference and also is respected by his peers.”
Posted by Lauren Davidson
on Jan 26 2012. Filed under News.
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