*PhD, The University of Texas at Austin, December 2008, Performance as Public Practice Program
*MA, Washington University in St. Louis, May 2003.
*BA, Magna cum Laude with Highest Honors in Theatre and High Honors in Philosophy from Butler University, May 2001.
I studied abroad from 1999-2000 at the University of Bristol.
My larger research interests concern immersive theatre, race, gender, and non-human performance in popular entertainments and tourist attractions in the United States. These days I am doing a lot of work within Disney Studies
CURRENT PROJECTS
Book
Disney Parks and the Construction of American Identity: Tourism, Performance, Collaboration co-written monograph with Tom Robson, under contract with Lexington/Rowan books in their Studies in Disney series.
Article
Meow Wolf and Generic Conventions of Theatre as a Spectrum in Immersive Spaces
Essays
“Finding Nemo: When a Disney Musical is a Theme Park Attraction” co-written with Tom Robson in The Oxford Handbook of the Disney Musical edited by Colleen Montgomery and Dominic McHugh under contract with the University of Oxford Press.
“Why Be a Bad Guy? Immersive Performance and Transgression at the Disney Theme Park “ co-written with Tom Robson in Enveloping Worlds edited by Elizabeth Hunter and Scott Magelssen under contract with University of Michigan Press.
PUBLICATIONS
Books
Essays in Anthologies
“Agent P vs the Drunks: Competing Interiorities in the Disney Theme Park Space” Co-Written with Tom Robson in Virtual Interiorities edited by Dave Gottwald, Gregory Turner-Rahman, and Vahid Vahdat. Carnegie Mellon ETC Press, 2023
Cowritten with Mary Beth Willard “Holy Forking Shirtballs: An Interdisciplinary Examination of What It Means to Be Good”, in Removing the Educational Silos: Models of Interdisciplinary and Multidisciplinary Education edited by Wiline Pangle, Keeley Stanley-Bohn, Ann Dasen, Heather Trommer-Beardslee, Jay Batzner. Intellect Press, 2022.
“Do Goats Have a Right to Cigarettes? A Cross-Disciplinary Investigation of the Ethics of Non-Human Animal Performances” Cowritten with Lauren Kokai for Identity, Culture, and the Science Performance: From the Lab to the Streets: Vol 1 edited by Meredith Conti and Vivian Appler Methuen Drama, 2022.
“From Mickey Waffles to Vegan Samosas: Evolving Disney Food Fandoms” in Disney Fandoms edited by Sabrina Mittermeier. Intellect Press, 2022.
“Shamu the (Killer) Whale and an Ecology of Commodity” in Showing Off, Showing Up: Studies of Hype, Heightened Performance, and Cultural Power edited by Laurie Frederik, Kim Marra, and Catherine Schuler. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2017, 81-106.
Peer Reviewed Articles:
“A Kind of Magic: Theatre and Moral Persuasion” co-authored with Mary Beth Willard. Journal of Dramatic Theory and Criticism (Vol. 28, No. 2), 7-27.
“Weeki Wachee Girls and Buccaneer Boys: The Evolution of Mermaids, Gender, and ‘Man versus Nature’ Tourism.” Theatre History Studies. (Vol 31): 51-66.
“Molding a Heroine: Patience Wright and Transatlantic Notions of American Female Patriotism.” The Journal of American Drama and Theatre. (Vol. 29, No. 2 Spring 2009): 49-66.
Solicited Articles:
“Academic Conferences as Nostalgia Tourism: A Regretful Polemic.” Theatre Topics 32, no. 1 (2022): 33-39.
“Disney during COVID-19: The tourist and the actor’s nightmare,” co-written with Tom Robson Journal of Themed Experience and Attractions Studies: 2022, Vol. 2: Iss. 1, Article 5.
Book Reviews:
“Affect, Animals, and Autists: Feeling Around the Edges. By Marla Carlson (review)” The Journal of Dramatic Theory and Criticism 35, no 2 (2021): 216-218.
“World Theatre: The Basics by E. J. Westlake (review).” Theatre Topics 28, no. 3 (2018): 245-246. https://muse.jhu.edu/ (accessed April 17, 2019).
“Cultivating National Identity Through Performance: American Pleasure Gardens and Entertainment By Naomi J. Stubbs.” Theatre Journal, (Vol. 66, No. 3 October 2014): 482-483.
“Sisters in Sin by Katie N. Johnson.” Ecumenica. (Vol. 2, No. 2 Fall 2009): 99-100.