About Us

Led by Dr. Kathleen Gallagher, we are an ensemble of University of Toronto post-doctoral and graduate students, local and international artists, drama teachers, youth social service workers and young people who collaborate to explore the role and uses of drama in the lives of urban youth around the world.

Current Research Team

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Nancy Cardwell
‘Becoming’ Critical: Trusting the body and making meaning in critical literacy studies
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Debleena Tripathi
Effects and Affects of Independent Theatre in Kolkata: A Practice-as-Research Inquiry
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Celeste Kirsh
Cultivating human-centred writing instruction: journalistic learning and the civic dimensions of composition
Amanda Buffalo, PhD Candidate
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Amanda Buffalo
Indigenous Knowledge and Land-Based Pedagogy.
Meera Kanageswaran, PhD Candidate
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Meera Kanageswaran
Inclusive Bharathanatyam Pedagogy: Questioning Religion, Caste, Gender and Sexuality within the Storytelling Dance Form in India, Sri Lanka and Canada.
Arianna Odlin, PhD Student
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Bio Coming Soon

Some Past Student Voices

Current Supervisees

Yasmine Agocs, PhD Candidate
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Yasmine Agocs
Building Bridges: Mestiza Methodologies in Toronto-based Latina Theatre
Sharon Haynes Connelly, PhD
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A Critical Autoethnographic Approach to Reimagining the Curriculum and Pedagogy of the Drama Classroom
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The transformative potential of the drama classroom and its role in fostering a sense of community is of interest.
Ashleigh Allen, PhD Candidate
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Ashleigh Allen
Middle and High School Teachers Investigate Care: Pedagogical and Curricular Implications
Amanda Buffalo, PhD
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Amanda Buffalo
Indigenous Knowledge and Land-Based Pedagogy.
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Nancy Cardwell
‘Becoming’ Critical: Trusting the body and making meaning in critical literacy studies
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The relationship between theatre and society, with particular interests in participatory theatre, applied theatre, drama education, and site-specific performance.
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Celeste Kirsh
Cultivating human-centred writing instruction: journalistic learning and the civic dimensions of composition
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Debleena Tripathi
Effects and Affects of Independent Theatre in Kolkata: A Practice-as-Research Inquiry

More Past Students

Learn more about some of Dr. Gallagher's previous students, their projects, and what they are doing now.

Dirk Rodricks, PhD
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Dirk J. Rodricks
50 Shades of Brown? How LGBQ “South Asians” understand and negotiate Brown(ness) through Drama
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Christine Balt
Seeking a right to the city in Toronto: youth, pedagogy, pandemic, and auto-topographical performance
Scott Mealey, PhD
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Scott Mealey
Social Cognition and Audience Reception
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Kelsey Jacobson
Feeling Real: Affective Dimensions of Reality in Contemporary Canadian Performance
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Lindsay Valve
Research as Public Pedagogy: Exploring the Social Impacts of Doing Research
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Rachel Rhoades
Youth Artists for Justice: Confronting Neoliberalism & Racism with Collaborative Action Research & Ethnodrama in Toronto
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Anne Wessels
Three Performances of the Postmetropolis: Youth, Drama, Theatre, and Pedagogy
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Barry Freeman
Toward a Postmodern Ethnography of Intercultural Theatre: A Case Study of the Prague-Toronto-Manitoulin Theatre Project
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Burcu Yaman Ntelioglou
Drama Pedagogies, Multiliteracies and Embodied Learning: Urban Teachers and Linguistically Diverse Students Make Meaning
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Heather Fitzsimmons Frey
Victorian Girls Private Theatricals: Performing and Playing with Possible Futures
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Art Babayants
In Unknown Languages: Acting in/through/with Non-Dominant Languages
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Isabelle Kim
Youth videomaking projects: a spoken word study
Esther Maloney, MA
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Esther Maloney
Digital Storytelling and Youth
Yasmine Agocs, PhD Candidate
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Yasmine Agocs
Building Bridges: Mestiza Methodologies in Toronto-based Latina Theatre
Sharon Haynes Connelly, PhD
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An icon of a person.
A Critical Autoethnographic Approach to Reimagining the Curriculum and Pedagogy of the Drama Classroom
Alex Means, PhD
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Alex Means
Schooling in the Age of Austerity: Public Education, Youth and Social Instability in the Neoliberal City.
Dominique Riviere, PhD
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Dominique Riviere
Performed Identities: Drama and the Transformation of Multicultural Education