Christopher Aruffo
847-722-5656 • acoustic@aruffo.com • www.aruffo.com
Statement of Interest
I teach people to communicate more effectively.
Education
Ph.D.
M.Sc.
M.F.A.
M.B.A.
B.S.
Dipl.
McMaster University, Cognitive Psychology, completion date July 2014
David Shore (chair), Karin Humphreys, and Joseph Kim
Dissertation: Familiar Talkers In Speech Perception
Special topic: Dialect acquisition and accent modification
McMaster University, Cognitive Psychology, 2009
Thesis: Self-face and Self-voice in Audiovisual Speech
University of Florida, Acting Performance, 2006
Lessac vocal system, Yanci Bukovec
SAFD certification: knife, quarterstaff
Period Styles
University of California Irvine, Business Administration, 2000
Special Topic: Change Management
Boston University, Broadcasting and Film, 1994
Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy, Charter Class of 1989
Co-founded school newspaper The Acronym
Teaching
Instructor: Speech, Writing, and Presentation
Integrative Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour, McMaster University, 2012
Nominated, Excellence in Teaching Award
Critical and academic writing skills for class of 120 students, encompassing
lecture, small group, and tutorial. Designed and taught curriculum.
Multisensory Perception Laboratory, McMaster University, 2011
Designed and taught curriculum for public presentation of scientific findings:
including visual representation of information, engaging audiences with data,
and expository storytelling.
The Multisensory Mind, McMaster University, 2010
Designed and taught curriculum for public presentation and writing skills:
including evidence-based argument, narrative structure, and logical thinking.
Oral Interpretation, University of Florida, 2003
Member, Voice and Speech Trainers Association
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Instructor: Theater
Acting for the Stage, McMaster Thespians, 2009
Acting for the Stage, freelance, 2008
Acting for the Stage, Bloomington Playwrights Project, 2006
Acting for Non-Majors, University of Florida, 2004–2006
Designed and taught curriculum to teach essential communications skills,
dramatic interpretation, and character development.
Teaching Assistantships
Theatre Appreciation
THE 2000
University of Florida
McMaster University, Psychology, Neuroscience, & Behaviour, 2008–2012
Human Learning and Cognition
Psychology 2H03
Dr. David Shore
Introduction to Social Psychology
Psychology 1Z03
Dr. Jennifer Ostovich
Sensory Processes
Psychology 2E03
Dr. Gautam Ullal
Introductory Psychology
Psychology 1X03
Dr. Richard Day
Advisory Experience
2012
2011
2010
2009
Thesis research project supervisor to Bruce Sheng, undergraduate
Title: Asymmetries in Musical Relative Pitch Perception
Thesis research project supervisor to Swapna Krishnamoorthy, undergraduate
Title: Familiar Faces and Voices in Audiovisual Speech
Thesis research project supervisor to Katherine Jongsma, undergraduate
Title: Familiar Faces and Voices in the McGurk Effect
Thesis research project supervisor to Kyla Baird, undergraduate
Title: Can you McGurk yourself?
Workshops
The Science of Acting, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy, 2013
Presenting Science: Telling the Story, Illinois Math and Science Acad., 2013
Storytelling: Structure and Style, Haunted Hamilton, 2012
Audition Skills, Bloomington Playwrights Project, 2006
Introduction to Shakespearean Scansion
McMaster Classics Department, 2011
Hamilton Urban Theatre, 2010
McMaster Thespians, 2009
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Publications
Books
Aruffo, C. A Rational Guide to Verse: Scansion Made Simple. (Acoustic Learning, 2012).
Assigned as required text in McMaster University Classics Department.
Taneda, N., Taneda, R., and Aruffo, C. Education for Absolute Pitch: A New Way to Learn
Piano. (Acoustic Learning, 2005).
Posters
Aruffo, C. and Shore, D.I. (2011). Familiar Faces and Voices in Audiovisual Speech.
Presented at the 12th International Multisensory Research Forum, Fukuoka, Japan.
Journal Articles
Aruffo, C. (2011). Reconsidering Poe’s “Rationale of Verse.” Poe Studies: History, Theory,
Interpretation, 44, 69–86.
Aruffo, C. and Shore, D.I. (2012). “Can you McGurk yourself? Self-face and self-voice in
audiovisual speech.” Psychological Bulletin and Review, 19(1), 66–72.
Aruffo, C., Goldstone, R.L., & Earn, D.J.D. (In press). “Absolute judgment of musical
interval width.”
Aruffo, C. (Submitted). “Turning scientific presentations into stories.”
Aruffo, C., and Shore, D.I. (Submitted). “Relative contributions of face and voice to familiar
speech.”
Invited Talks
“Why do people speak with accents? A new theory and approach to training.”
TEDx, McMaster University, February 2012. Available on YouTube
Rotary International, Highland Park chapter, September 2012.
Rotary International, Northbrook chapter, October 2012.
Rotary International, Des Plaines chapter, November 2012.
“Teaching writing skills to undergraduate students.”
Leadership In Learning Seminar, McMaster University, June 2012
“Familiar faces and voices in audiovisual speech.”
Cognition/Perception Seminar, McMaster University, November 2011.
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Professional Work
President, Acoustic Learning, Inc., 2005–present
Develop and produce educational materials:
We Hear and Play piano training books (4 volumes)
“Ear Training Companion” music education software
Textbooks and audiobooks of classic literature
Financial Analyst, Wachovia Securities, 2000–2003
Traded stocks and other securities.
Generated financial reports and conducted research for financial advisor.
Designed and created database system for technical analysis.
Programmer/Analyst, Hughes Space and Communications, 1999
Designed and automated unit-testing spreadsheets for satellite production.
Marketing Representative, Spelling Television, 1998
Managed product placements for network television, including Any Day Now,
Charmed, and Love Boat: the Next Wave.
Installed and maintained internal computer network.
Marketing Representative, Warner Bros. Production Resources, 1996–1998
Managed product placements for feature films, including
Batman & Robin, My Fellow Americans, Steel, Dennis the Menace Strikes Again!
Developed and implemented inventory database to track product positioning.
Computer Developer, New England Medical Center, 1994–1995
Designed and conducted computer-training curriculum for medical researchers.
Created, implemented, and supported grantwriting application.
Technical support for staff of 35 professional research staff.
Producer, Tiggeriffic Productions, Inc., 1994–1995
Produced and promoted unknown stage plays by famous authors.
Hired and managed all staff, crew, and talent.
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Performance
Audiobooks
Music and Dyslexia
T.R. Miles & J. Westcombe, eds.
Acoustic Learning Inc.
Edgar Allan Poe Audiobook Series
Acoustic Learning Inc.
Collection #1: The Black Cat / Pit and the Pendulum
Collection #2: William Wilson / The Masque of the Red Death
Collection #3: The Fall of the House of Usher / The Imp of the Perverse
Collection #4: Poe on Poetry
Collection #5: Eureka
Collection #6: MS. Found In a Bottle / The Oblong Box
Collection #7: The Cask of Amontillado / The Premature Burial
Collection #8: Ligeia / Eleonora
Collection #9: Deus et Machina
Collection #10: The Pioneers
Collection #11: The Tell-Tale Heart / Man of the Crowd
Collection #12: Hop-Frog / Metzengerstein
Collection #13: Berenice / The Assignation
Lead Roles
The Tempest
Haunted Hamilton
Mad Honey
Dracula, or The Un-Dead
Farewell Party
Equus
The Marriage of Bette & Boo
Fools
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Inspecting Carol
We Bombed in New Haven
The Vegetable
Whose Life Is It Anyway?
Equus
Prospero
Ghost Guide
Joe Tibits
Van Helsing
Alex Gray
Martin Dysart
Matthew Hudlocke
Leon Tolchinsky
Willy Wonka
Wayne Wellacre
Captain Starkey
Jerry Frost
Ken Harrison
Martin Dysart
Accidental Shakespeare Co, Chicago
Hamilton, ON
Bloomington Playwrights Project, IN
Monroe Civic Theater, IN
Revolution Theatre, Chicago
Florida Players, FL
Palos Verdes Players, CA
Trilogy Playhouse, CA
Trilogy Playhouse, CA
Long Beach Playhouse, CA
Boston Center for the Arts, MA
Double Edge Theater, MA
Boston Stage Troupe, MA
Boston Stage Troupe, MA
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Supporting Roles
Love’s Labour’s Lost
Much Ado About Nothing
Macbeth
The 100th Show
Love and Hitchcock
You Never Can Tell
The Exonerated
Hendeka
What the Butler Saw
Night Must Fall
Line
Spoon River Anthology
Translations
Boyet
Friar
Porter, Doctor
Eli
Harry
Bohun*
Gary Gauger
Matthayah
Dr. Rance
Hubert Laurie
Stephen
Fletcher McGee
Jimmy Jack Cassie
Right Brain Project, Chicago
Shakespeare by the Sea, CA
Shakespeare by the Sea, CA
Monroe County Theater, IN
Monroe County Theater, IN
University of Florida, FL
University of Florida, FL
University of Florida, FL
University of Florida, FL
Actors’ Repertory Theater, CA
Boston Stage Troupe, MA
Bowling Green State, OH
Bowling Green State, OH
*Winner, Irene Ryan Award
Musical Theater
Jonathan Toomey
A Year With Frog and Toad
Anything Goes
Little Shop of Horrors
Charlie Girl
A New Brain
Way Back When
Ensemble
Toad
Eli Whitney
Audrey II
Jack Connor
Jafar Berensteiner
King Beckus
Provision Theater, Chicago
Cardinal Stage Company, IN
University of Florida, FL
Trilogy Playhouse, CA
Potters Bar, UK
Hammer Entertainment, ON
Laity Theater Company, CA
Audio Plays
The Snowman Always Shovels Twice
Duet For One
Eden
No Shadow, No Doubts
Rick
Brian, Rob
10 roles
5 roles
Mind’s Ear Productions, IN
Mind’s Ear Productions, IN
Softy Paw Productions, CA
Softy Paw Productions, CA
Radio
Pledge drive promotional breaks
Announcer/DJ
NPR, 95.1 FM
IC Radio 999 AM
WTBU 89.3 FM
WBGU 88.1 FM
Bloomington, IN
London, England
Boston, MA
Bowling Green, OH
Dialect Coach
Footloose
Little Shop of Horrors
Cabaret
Dracula
My Fair Lady
You Never Can Tell
McMaster Musical Theatre
McMaster Musical Theatre
McMaster Musical Theatre
Monroe County Theatre
Bloomington HS North
University of Florida
Texas
New York: Light, Brooklyn, “Street”
British RP, Yiddish, German, American
British RP, Dutch, Romanian
British RP, Cockney
British RP
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Directing
An Ideal Husband
Oscar Wilde
The Pot Boiler
Alice Gerstenberg
Telephone
Ginna Hoben
Small World
Tracey Scott Wilson
The Adoption
Joyce Carol Oates
The Midlife Crisis of Dionysus
Garrison Keillor
Hidden In This Picture
Aaron Sorkin
The Office
Kate Hoffower
Sure Thing
David Ives
Seven Menus
David Ives
Foreplay, or The Art of the Fugue David Ives
Nightswim
Julia Jordan
The Whole Shebang
Rich Orloff
Cats and Dogs
Cherie Vogelstein
Window of Opportunity
John Augustine
Three Tables
Dan Remmes
Deus-X
Jules Tasca
4AM (Open All Night)
Bob Krakower
The Original Last Wish Baby
William Sebring
Fitting Rooms
Susan Cinoman
So Tell Me About This Guy
Dolores Whiskeyman
Fifteen Minutes
Dave DeChristopher
’Dentity Crisis
Christopher Durang
Tunnel of Love
Jacquelyn Reingold
How to Go Out on a Date In Queens Richard Vertere
The Princess and the Woodcutter A.A. Milne
The Camberley Triangle
A.A. Milne
The Man In the Bowler Hat
A.A. Milne
Winner, Best Director
McMaster Thespians, ON
Acting Performance, ON
Acting Performance, ON
Acting Performance, ON
Bloomington Playwrights Project, IN
Bloomington Playwrights Project, IN
Bloomington Playwrights Project, IN
Bloomington Playwrights Project, IN
University of Florida, FL
University of Florida, FL
University of Florida, FL
University of Florida, FL
University of Florida, FL
University of Florida, FL
University of Florida, FL
University of Florida, FL
University of Florida, FL
University of Florida, FL
University of Florida, FL
University of Florida, FL
University of Florida, FL
University of Florida, FL
University of Florida, FL
University of Florida, FL
University of Florida, FL
Tiggeriffic Productions, MA
Tiggeriffic Productions, MA
Boston Stage Troupe, MA