Andrea Bechert — Assistant Professor, Department of Television, Radio, Film, and Theatre
The College is thrilled that Andrea Bechert has joined the Department of Television, Radio, Film, and Theatre this fall. Andrea Bechert returns to the Bay Area from Chicago, where she has spent the past eleven years designing work for theatres across the country. Andrea has served as a guest designer or faculty member at several universities, including Ohio University, University of Miami, and University of Michigan; she most recently worked at the University of Chicago’s Institute for Molecular Engineering in the STAGE Lab. She looks forward to sharing the collaborative and creative world of theatre with SJSU students.
“The collaborative nature of theatre and the wonderfully creative people I get to work with makes my job one of the best in the world,” Andrea explained. “Just as theatre and its craft is always changing, growing, and developing, so do the ways in which we learn and communicate with each other. Learning together with, as well as from, my students, is just one reward of teaching.”
Andrea earned her B.S. in Theatre Design and Technology from Northern Arizona University and her MFA in Scenic Design and Costume Design from Ohio University. She views every class she teaches as an opportunity to learn more, not just about the subject matter at hand, but about herself, her students, and the world.
Andrea states that the best theatre productions have visual elements that emotionally impact and move the audience. Adhering to the philosophy that “alone we are smart, together we are brilliant,” she believes that collaboration with others is the key to effective theater design. Andrea aims to create teaching environments in which students learn the art of collaboration, come to a better understanding of themselves, build lasting relationships with each other, and develop a lasting passion for theatre as an aspect of teaching that is extremely rewarding.
“Perhaps most rewarding, though,” she remarked, “is seeing my students become working professionals in theatre – no longer my students, but my colleagues.”
By Kaitlynn Magnuson
