Justin Dennis teaches English and directs plays at Carbondale Community High School (CCHS) in Carbondale, Ill. Prior to becoming a teacher, Dennis ran a theatre for young audiences and was marketing director for Karamu House, the nation's oldest African-American cultural center, in Cleveland, which is where he met Max Bush. When he left Karamu in 1996 to pursue a teaching career, he was fortunate to land a position at his alma mater. At CCHS, he has served as department chair, has been an assistant coach for the Terriers' speech team and has sponsored the philosophy club, the film club, and model UN at sundry times. CCHS co-commissioned, and Dennis directed, Bush's plays What Remains and From Every Mountainside. He also directed Bush's Voices From the Shore in the later stages of its development. Among his other directing credits are A Midsummer Night's Dream, The House of Bernarda Alba, Our Town, Machinal and Anouilh's adaptation of Antigone. Dennis holds a master's degree in English literature, an MFA in dramaturgy and a Ph.D. in curriculum and instruction from Southern Illinois University.
