INTRODUCTION

In this introduction, the author presents and describes current contexts for higher education and the performing arts-broadly defined to include music, dance, theatre, and interdisciplinary practices-providing the foundation for the chapters that follow. The chapters are organized into three sections, each section exploring the responsibilities of performing arts in higher education. The sections include Responsibilities to Academia; Responsibilities to the Fields; and Responsibilities to Society. By examining innovations currently in place or on the horizon, the author seeds critical ideas about what needs to flourish in the future. The introduction concludes by offering questions to guide readers’ engagement with the book, as they imagine possible futures for performing arts in higher education.