Photo by Jade Williams
PRESS RELEASE : For immediate release
Gonzales, LA – River Parishes Community College (RPCC) was honored to host Just Cause: The Experience, a fictional, ripped-from-the-headlines interactive legal drama where the audience decides the outcome of the case.
The Just Cause presentations are brought to you by Canamac Productions. Canamac Productions premiered The Defamation Experience in 2010, written by playwright and Executive Producer Todd Logan.
Since then, over 700 presentations of Defamation and Just Cause co-written with Lisa Dillman have created meaningful, long-lasting conversations at venues including colleges & universities, law schools, law firms, bar associations, healthcare systems, civic & religious organizations, high schools, middle schools, and chambers of commerce.
“I’m so thankful to RPCC for partnering with us to bring Just Cause: The Experience to both the Reserve and Gonzales campuses," said Gina Taliaferro, Associate Producer and Director of Facilitation with Canamac Productions. "Canamac calls these ‘experiences’ because no two events are exactly alike; each audience is made up of different people who bring their various lived experiences into space. Although the verdict happened to turn out the same at the Reserve and Gonzales campus events, the deliberations with the judge that preceded those verdicts and the discussions that followed were each unique. I was impressed with the openness that the students and staff showed in discussing what they thought about the case, and how the issues of race, gender, and social justice affected their own lives. We discussed what makes conversations around difference and inclusion so difficult and what might make them easier, although no single answer exists to “solve” that problem.”
This unique programming model sees the audience serve as the jury, each time deciding the outcome of the case interwoven with social & identity issues, followed by a post-show discussion led by one of Canamac’s experienced facilitators.
"As a community college, RPCC works to deliver high quality engagements to our students and local community," said Monica Morrison, Associate Vice Chancellor for Student Services/Chief Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion (DEI) Officer. "We deeply value the significant role our industry partners play in amplifying our core values and funding opportunities for our students to engage in meaningful co-curricular experiences. We are thankful for the support of the Just Cause DEI event and the positive impact it had on our students."
For more information, visit rpcc.edu. For questions, email [email protected], [email protected] or visit the Gonzales campus at 925 West Edenborne Parkway Gonzales, La. 70737.