Thursday, July 30, 2026
9:45-11am
Shared Session
Luke Foster Hayden
Title: Community-Based Theatre in South-Central Indiana
Description: Recounts interviews with theatre makers in South-Central Indiana to explore how organizations serve their communities. Celebrates the artistry of local practitioners and examines the challenges they face in continuing to grow and support their communities.
Jonathan P. Jones
Title: Convergence for Research and Scholarship in the United States: Polycrisis and Opportunity
Description: Analyzes challenges in theatre education scholarship through a national review of faculty and publications. Proposes strategies to strengthen equity, representation, and research in the field.
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Raina Ames
Title: Using Characterization Through Imagination When Directing MS/HS Actors
Description: Uses Adler-based techniques to guide young actors in character development through imagination and "as if" scenarios. Includes hands-on strategies using props, action verbs, and script analysis to build character without emotional strain.
Shuyu Lin
Title: Multimodal Literacy: Shakespeare, Sound, and Student Agency
Description: A practical workshop using sound, movement, and staging to support close reading of texts like Shakespeare. Empowers students—especially multilingual learners—to interpret and engage with challenging material through multimodal expression.
Jo Beth Gonzalez & Sobha Kavanakudiyil
Title: The Power and Spirit of our Names - Get it Right
Description: Explores how naming shapes identity, power, and belonging in theatre spaces. Through reflection, discussion, and image-based activities, participants examine misnaming, agency, and strategies for honoring students' identities in educational settings.
Michael Ávila (+ UT Students)
Title: Teacher Training Success Stories: Directing the Young Performer
Description: Shares a university teacher-training model where students direct K–12 performers. Highlights experiential learning, collaboration, and practical strategies for preparing future theatre educators.
Emily Garven
Title: Building a Thriving Theater Program from the Ground Up
Description: Equips educators with practical strategies, templates, and tools to launch and sustain inclusive theatre programs in under-resourced schools. Emphasizes culturally responsive pedagogy, trauma-informed practices, and data-driven advocacy.
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New Guard
Kaylee Hill
Title: Bringing Professional Theatre Education to Rural Communities
Description: Proposes a university partnership model to bring theatre education into rural schools. Highlights how access to arts education can strengthen communities, improve student outcomes, and build sustainable local arts ecosystems.
Alena Lakha
Title: Somatics and how it affects performance
Description: A practice-based session exploring how somatic techniques support performer grounding, calm, and readiness. Includes experiential exercises comparing performance with and without somatic preparation.
Bo Yang
Title: Drama as Critical Literacy, devising with picture books
Description: Examines how drama-based pedagogy can support critical literacy in teacher education. Uses puppetry and devising with children's literature to help educators address social issues through embodied learning.
Maia Gersten
Title: Stereotypes, Stigma, and Inaccuracies: Ethical Representation of Mental Health in Theatrical Production
Description: A research-based session examining how theatre portrays mental health, focusing on works like One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Next to Normal. Explores the impact of inaccurate depictions (especially ECT) and offers strategies for more ethical, informed representations in performance.
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Ashley Forman, Mitch Mattson, Anthony Jackson
Title: Calling all Education Directors
Description: A roundtable and open-space session for Directors of Education to share challenges, strategies, and hopes. Topics emerge from participants and may include programming, management, budgeting, partnerships, and the future of the field.
2:45-4 pm
Naelis A. Ervin
Title: "Enter Stage Right: Teaching Through Theatrical Facilitation"
Description: An interactive workshop exploring how theatrical principles can transform classroom engagement. Participants experience ensemble work, role-play, and improvisation exercises designed to amplify student voice and foster inclusive, dynamic learning environments.
Alexandra Beller
Title: Embodied Meaning: Unlocking Expressive Performance Through Laban Dynamics
Description: Introduces Laban Movement Analysis to create expressive performance without relying on personal emotional disclosure. Focuses on movement and vocal dynamics to build clarity, inclusivity, and ethical practice
Ramon Esquivel
Title: Wrighting Plays: Strategies for Revising Scripts and Teaching Revising
Description: A hands-on playwriting workshop focused on the revision process. Award-winning playwrights share strategies and samples to help writers refine dialogue, structure, and character across multiple drafts.
Dana Edell Kids Are Welcome (ages: 13+)
Title: Call to Action!: Devising Activist Theater with Teenagers
Description: Explores how youth theater makers can harness live performance to address urgent social justice issues and craft direct calls to action. Participants will practice collaborative devising activities, create short activist performances with embedded audience engagement, and share reflections on the rewards and challenges of activist theatermaking.
Nan Smithner and May Tashiro
Title: Devising Sonder: A Collaboration with Higher Ed and Middle School students
Description: A panel discussion on a large-scale devised theatre collaboration between university students and middle schoolers. Explores themes of empathy, identity, and belonging while sharing insights into community-engaged devising processes, challenges, and pedagogical value.
Lisa Hershey
Title: Beyond "Did You Like It?": Centering Student Voices in Post-Performance Discussions
Description: Provides strategies for facilitating inclusive, student-centered post-show discussions. Focuses on creating equitable dialogue structures that encourage participation, reflection, and deeper engagement.
Joyce Laoagan and Natalia Yandyganova
Title: Why Embrace AI in Theater?
Description: This session will explore the practical applications and ethical considerations of integrating Artificial Intelligence (AI) into theatrical creation, using The Waiting Room (TWR)—an AI audiovisual experience—as a primary case study. The goal is to move past skepticism and demonstrate how AI can be a powerful, collaborative tool for playwrights, directors, designers, and performers.
Friday, July 31, 2026
10:15-11:30 am
Ayesis Clay
Title: Sculpting Clay, or How I Became Mother of Unicorns: A Solo Performance on Burnout, Grief, and Healing Through Story
Description: A solo performance addressing burnout, grief, and healing in education. Followed by a structured talkback offering practical tools (M.A.G.I.C. Method™) for processing and care in theatre spaces.
Yihao Xu
Title: Space Drives Performance: Activating Actor Action in Virtual and Live Environments
Description: An advanced acting workshop exploring how space influences performance. Combines Eastern performance principles with Stanislavski's methods and applies them to both live theatre and virtual/AI-driven environments.
Abra Chusid & Jamie Macpherson
Title: Revitalizing intimacy onstage: Collaborating with HS Directors & Intimacy Designers
Description: Explores ethical and artistic approaches to staging intimacy in high school theatre. Offers tools for consent-based practices, collaboration, and storytelling alternatives.
Stephen Gundersheim, Erin Gill, Kalaylah Hazelton
Title: Theatre Education in the Mirror
Description: An interactive reflection on theatre teaching across career stages. Participants explore challenges, share experiences, and collaboratively generate solutions through activities like tableaux and group discussion.
Thomas Kazmierczak & Jenna Messina
Title: Stories That Matter: A Community Engagement and School/Community Partnership
Description: Provides a step-by-step model for building community partnerships through theatre. Uses a "Story to Source to Stage" process to turn lived experiences into performances that foster empathy, civic learning, and engagement.
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Shared Session
Laurie Melnik Allen
Title: From Squiggle to Signal: Reviving Creativity through Micro-Play Strategies
Description: Introduces micro-play as a quick, daily creative practice using simple drawing exercises. Helps theatre practitioners reconnect with presence, imagination, and creative thinking through low-stakes, repeatable activities.
Joyce Laoagan
Title: Multimedia Indigenous Theater Presentation: Sungod
Description: A multimedia performance and discussion blending indigenous Igorot storytelling with dance, martial arts, and multimedia elements. Explores decolonization, cultural identity, and the importance of indigenous narratives in contemporary theatre.
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Steven Barker & Valerie Baugh-Schlossberg
Title: The AATEvolution of Valerie & Steve: Reflecting on Friendship, Puppetry, & Collaboration
Description: A reflective, hands-on session using puppetry and Greek dramatic structure to explore an 18-year creative partnership. Participants engage in devising and puppetry techniques adaptable across ages and settings.
Danielle A. Drakes
Title: Echos of Care: Building Ethical and Artistically Rigorous Theatre
Description: An interactive workshop bridging inclusive practice and high-level artistry. Explores consent-forward and culturally responsive theatre practices for youth and educational contexts, reframing equity and care as generative creative structures.
Joe Salvatore
Title: Collaborative Coding with Interview Transcripts from The Migration Project
Description: An immersive workshop in ethnodrama and verbatim theatre. Participants analyze real interview transcripts, categorize narrative types, and collaboratively shape them into theatrical scenes. The session highlights how community voices and research data can be transformed into performance, focusing on migration stories and collective storytelling.
2:30-3:45pm
Deborah Martinez, Robert Marra, Julia Mirkovich, Ariana Ulloa-Olavarrieta
Title: Dive into the SOAR Experience: Empowering the Next Generation of Artists!
Description: An interactive workshop integrating theatre with social-emotional learning. Builds skills like empathy, collaboration, and leadership through movement, discussion, and ensemble work.
Xuan Zhao Kids Are Welcome (ages: 10-12, 13+)
Title: Jump In, Speak Out: Learning Basic Chinese Through Improv Games!
Description: An interactive workshop combining improvisation with beginner Chinese language learning. Uses embodied play and ensemble activities to build confidence, communication skills, and cross-cultural understanding.
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Shared Session
Abigail Blakeman
Title: Expressive Arts Therapy and its Effects on Childhood Cultural Integration
Description: Research on how interdisciplinary arts (music, theatre, visual art) support cultural integration for children and teens. Highlights arts as tools for identity, confidence, and adaptation.
Kanea MacDonald
Title: Pain and Poetry:
Description: A narrative session sharing stories and creative work from individuals with chronic illness and pain. Highlights resilience, community, and storytelling as tools for processing lived experiences.
Marla Truini, PhD
Title: Teaching Empathy Through Devising: A Fiction-Based Approach
Description: A research-based presentation exploring how devised theatre can support social-emotional learning and empathy in high school settings. Introduces Fiction-Based Research as a method to deepen engagement and amplify student voices.
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Maddy Moreland
Title: Using Drama to Support Student Teachers’ Wellness and Reflective Practice
Description: Explores drama-based techniques that support reflection, engagement, and wellness in teacher preparation programs. Includes interactive strategies adaptable across disciplines.
Jenny Winstead-Rodriguez
Title: How to Write Magic: Devised Theatre for PreK-8
Description: A lively workshop guiding educators through the process of creating original plays with young students. Focuses on capturing student voice, fostering collaboration, and integrating social-emotional learning into devising.
Nicole B. Adkins, Elizabeth Brendel Horn, Emily Kitchens, Vanita Keswani Kids Are Welcome (ages: 10-12, 13+)
Title: Though the Looking Glass: Exploring Body Image through Theatre & Nature
Description: An immersive project for youth (ages 10–14) examining body image through theatre and nature. Combines social justice frameworks, embodied reflection, and collaborative creation to promote healthy self-image and critical awareness of beauty standards.
Kanea MacDonald
Title: I Am Starfish: An Ace Performance Lecture
Description: A performance lecture exploring asexual identity through personal narrative and original play excerpts. Examines representation, identity discovery, and alternative understandings of love and connection.
Beth Murray & Vaughn Schmutz Kids Are Welcome (ages: 10-12, 13+)
Title: Arts Educators & Their Arts Education Ecosystem
Description: A research-based theatre session sharing stories from arts educators. Uses performance and discussion to explore systems, challenges, and opportunities within arts education.
Norah Swiney
Title: Including Echoes from ALL of Us: The Penguin Project Connects Young People with Disabilities and Theatre Communities
Description: A narrative presentation on an inclusive theatre program connecting differently-abled youth with peers through performance. Highlights community impact, program development, and strategies for building accessible, collaborative theatre environments.
Abra Chusid, Abby Sokol, Laura Wesslund
Title: Engaging Students in Dramaturgy: Revitalizing the “Why here, why nowâ€
Description: Focuses on student-led dramaturgy programs. Shares strategies for empowering students to analyze relevance, create materials, and deepen engagement in productions.
Rosita Beidaghi
Title: Children’s Theatre as Third Space for Identity and Belonging
Description: Presents research on children's theatre as a "Third Space" where identity and literacy are shaped. Examines how multilingual and immigrant youth engage through gestures, language, and audience participation.
4-5:15pm
Aashna Rai & Laura Fajardo-Riascos
Title: Making Theatre for Six Senses: Seesaw Theatre’s Sensory Theatre Workshop
Description: Introduces sensory theatre practices designed for neurodivergent and disabled audiences. Participants engage in hands-on devising to create inclusive, interactive theatre experiences.
Kerry Lee Chipman
Title: From Verbal to Visual: Exercises for Translating Text to Design
Description: Interactive exercises that help students translate written ideas into visual design. Encourages collaboration and builds confidence in theatre design processes.
Miriam Ragland & Rebecca Kenigsberg
Title: From Image to Insight: Theatre of the Oppressed in Educational Spaces
Description: An immersive workshop using Theatre of the Oppressed techniques to explore social issues, dialogue, and critical engagement in educational and community settings.
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Shared Session
Grant Williams
Title: Reassessing the State of Theatre in Higher Education
Description: A panel examining challenges facing theatre programs in higher education, including funding, recruitment, and restructuring. Shares strategies for adaptation and sustainability in a changing academic landscape.
Sobha Kavanakudiyil
Title: Amplifying VOICE: A Tool for Transformation in Theatre Education
Description: Presents research grounded in AsianCrit and Feminist Theory alongside the VOICE framework (Visibility, Opportunity, Identity, Community, Engagement). Participants apply the tool to evaluate and improve equity in theatre education spaces.
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Lauren Fuller Neuwirth
Title: "My counselor just put me here..." Motivating Reluctant Drama Students
Description: Provides practical strategies for engaging reluctant or new theatre students. Focuses on low-stakes activities, community-building, and increasing student buy-in.
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Shared Session
Holly Blumner
Title: Teaching Puppet Making to Students at the Elementary Level.
Description: Hands-on workshop on creating simple puppets (paper, sock, recycled materials). Emphasizes creativity, engagement, and social-emotional learning in inclusive elementary classrooms.
Barbara M. Washer
Title: Hidden Treasures: Reimagining Drama Activities
Description: A hands-on session revisiting a classic drama exercise and exploring new ways to apply it across subjects like science, storytelling, and social studies. Encourages educators to adapt and refresh familiar tools for contemporary classrooms.
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Milly Schmid Kids Are Welcome (ages: 10-12, 13+)
Title: The Canary in the Classroom: A Neurodivergent Autoethnographic Performance
Description: A one-person multimedia performance exploring neurodivergent identity in theatre education. Through storytelling, movement, and song, the piece examines ableism, belonging, and systemic barriers while offering space for reflection, dialogue, and disability joy.
Xuan Zhao Kids Are Welcome (ages: 13+)
Title: Everywhere, People Live: A Storytelling solo show
Description: A solo performance blending storytelling, movement, and improvisation to explore identity, belonging, and cross-cultural experiences. Includes interactive audience engagement to deepen connection and reflection.
Robert Hindsman
Title: University and Regional Theatre Partnerships: Alliance Theatre's Teaching Artist Training Program
Description: Explores a successful model for training emerging teaching artists through partnerships between professional theatres and universities. Shares strategies for mentorship, accessibility, and building sustainable teaching artist pipelines.
Saturday, August 1, 2026
1:15-2:30pm
Anastasiia Levkun
Title: While We Wait: Echoes of Ukraine in Devised Performance
Description: A devised, interview-based performance exploring the lived experience of war and waiting. Combines performance with discussion on ethical storytelling, trauma-informed practices, and using theatre to process complex global realities.
Zhuotong Li (Jen Lee)
Title: From Song to Story: Modular Embodied Theatre for Multilingual Youth
Description: Introduces a music-based, embodied approach to theatre creation for multilingual youth. Uses songs, movement, and gesture to build narrative, offering flexible strategies for inclusive, language-diverse classrooms.
Jenna Messina Family Friendly
Title: Move the Story: Student-Created Movement & Musical Staging for Non-Dancers
Description: Teaches a simple method for creating choreography using emotion and action. Empowers students and educators—regardless of dance experience—to build expressive movement for performance.
Andaiye Spencer & Amelia Hefferon Family Friendly
Title: Center the Youth: Wielding artistic expertise & building democratic learning spaces
Description: Designed for teaching artists and educators, this workshop offers tools to create student-centered, democratic learning environments. Focuses on youth voice, asset-based pedagogy, and applying artistic practice to empower young people as collaborators and changemakers.
Olivia Allen & Sam Carter Family Friendly
Title: Accessibility on a Budget: Sensory Theatre and Relaxed Performance
Description: Provides practical, low-cost strategies for creating accessible theatre. Focuses on sensory theatre, relaxed performances, and inclusive design for audiences with disabilities.
Jeneen Hammond Family Friendly
Title: Journey Accelerator Masterclass
Description: A guided storytelling workshop where participants develop personal narratives into scripts. Uses structured writing exercises to help individuals uncover meaningful stories and leave with a draft and action plan.
Darion McCloud (+ NiA Company Team) Kids Are Welcome (ages: 3-5, 6-9)
Title: Magic Purple Circles, Gifts That Run, Friends and more.
Description: A multimedia, participatory theatre experience combining music, storytelling, and performance. Centers joy, community, and inclusive audience engagement.
Nellie Speers
Title: Navigating the Intimacy "Ick"
Description: A practical workshop addressing consent-based and trauma-informed practices in youth theatre. Participants explore definitions of intimacy, rehearsal power dynamics, and strategies for fostering student self-advocacy through role-play, discussion, and reflection.
Lissane Shaffer-Dickerson
Title: Beyond the Monologue: Curriculum and Resources for Teaching Playwrights of Color
Description: Explores EdTA's Playwrights of Color initiative and its accompanying curriculum project. Participants engage with activities from a unit plan on Dominique Morisseau's Pipeline, exploring how curriculum and diverse representation work together.
Jeneen Hammond
Title: Journey, A One Woman Show
Description: An interactive solo performance blending storytelling, music, and audience participation. Celebrates life, family, and resilience while encouraging reflection and connection through shared human experiences.
2:45-4pm
Jane O'Leary
Title: Using Theatre to Explore Shared Experiences and Develop Empathy
Description: Interactive workshop using devising and storytelling to build empathy and social-emotional skills. Helps students explore personal narratives and shared experiences.
Steven James Higginbotham, Benjamin Sota, Cynthia Grace Robinson
Title: Echoes of Place, Futures in Motion: Theatre Resonating with Community
Description: Examines community-centered theatre initiatives that amplify local stories and identities. Shares adaptable models for building partnerships, engaging communities, and creating culturally responsive work.
George Younts Kids Are Welcome (ages: 13+)
Title: Nine Hacks for the Improv Teaching Guru
Description: A fast-paced, practical session offering specific techniques to strengthen improvisation teaching. Focuses on accessible, skill-based strategies that enhance creativity, connection, and ensemble-building for participants of all ages.
Angela Rogers Kids Are Welcome (ages: 6-9, 10-12, 13+)
Title: Devising Content-Rich Theatre: Integrating Curriculum into Performance
Description: An interactive workshop that helps educators use devising techniques to transform academic content into performance. Participants explore strategies like tableaux, improvisation, and collaborative storytelling to integrate subjects such as literacy, science, and history into theatre. The session culminates in small-group creation, sharing, and practical classroom applications.
Lise Kloeppel, Jacob Misch, Mikaela Futrell
Title: Visual Storytelling & STEAM Education with Crankies
Description: Hands-on workshop using crankies (scroll-based storytelling devices) to integrate theatre with STEAM learning. Participants create and perform short pieces while exploring interdisciplinary teaching strategies.
Peter Duffy Family Friendly
Title: University/school partnerships and the next generation of theatre teachers
Description: A panel discussion on mentorship, teacher preparation, and the future of theatre education. Educators and mentors share practical strategies for supporting, sustaining, and retaining the next generation of theatre teachers.
John Newman, Alyssa Durbin, Claudia Haas Kids Are Welcome (ages: 6-9, 10-12, 13+)
Title: Echoes of Dis/ability: TYA Plays with Disabled Characters
Description: A panel highlighting plays that center young characters with disabilities. Shares scripts and discusses authentic representation in theatre for young audiences.
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Shared Session
Jamie Macpherson
Title: Beyond Child Wranglers - Supporting Young Actors Onstage Professionally
Description: Examines best practices for supporting young actors in professional and intergenerational theatre settings. Focuses on safety, empowerment, and ethical collaboration.
Matt Omasta
Title: Evolving Practices and Diversity in Professional Theatre for Young Audiences
Description: Presents research on trends in TYA, including diversity, programming, and leadership. Offers insights into progress and ongoing challenges in the field.
Jennifer Adams-Carrasquillo
Title: Bravery by Design: Exploring the Impact of TVY Through Research
Description: Explores how Theatre for the Very Young (ages 1–4) fosters emotional growth through a research partnership with UCF. Shares methods for observing behaviors like empathy and engagement, offering data-driven insights for advocacy and early childhood arts impact.
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Mitch Mattson & Ashley Forman Kids Are Welcome (ages: 10-12, 13+)
Title: Game Exchange
Description: A hands-on, collaborative session where participants share and explore theatre games and exercises. Focuses on building ensemble, adaptability, and inclusive practices.