People

The Research-based Theatre Lab consists of over 100 committed members, including UBC Vancouver and Okanagan faculty, graduate student trainees, professional theatre artists, local community members, and national and international partners. The UBC-based Steering Committee represents the interdisciplinary spirit of the Lab, and an External Advisory of leading international RbT scholars provides guidance on Lab objectives and initiatives.

Steering Committee

George Belliveau
Cluster Lead / Professor,

UBC

Faculty of Education
Theatre Education

Professor Belliveau specializes in Theatre Education where he integrates theatre as a form of research and artistic expression across multiple disciplines. He is an international leader in research-based theatre, and has shared his performative approach to research in numerous countries around...

Christina Cook
Cluster Coordinator / PhD Student,

UBC

Faculty of Education
Counselling Psychology

Christina (she/they) is a therapist and theatre creator, and she is passionate about using theatre as a therapeutic, learning, and research tool. Christina has facilitated and developed theatre projects on diverse topics, working with various communities from residents in Vancouver's Downtown...

Susan Cox
Professor,

UBC

Faculty of Medicine
School of Population and Public Health

Susan Cox is an interdisciplinary health researcher with expertise in medical sociology, qualitative methodology and ethics.

Her research focuses on the arts and health and the experiences of human subjects participating in health research, including the implications for an evidence-based...

Tal Jarus
Professor,

UBC

Faculty of Medicine
Occupational Science and Therapy

Tal Jarus is a Professor at the Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy department at the University of British Columbia. Tal identifies as a queer, white, cis woman, settler, who immigrated to Canada 16 years ago. She live as an uninvited guest on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded...

Simangele Mabena
PhD Student,

UBC

Faculty of Education
Department of Language and Literacy Education

Simangele Mabena first encountered Research-Based Theatre (RBT) while studying her Masters in Dramatic Arts in Johannesburg, South Africa. From thereon, she was interested in the intersection of Research-Based Theatre and Deaf Studies, particularly in exploring the pedagogical practices...

Madjid Mohseni
Professor,

UBC

Faculty of Applied Science
Chemical and Biological Engineering

Research in my laboratory focuses on water quality and the application of advanced water treatment processes to improve the quality of drinking water. In particular, I work on the development, evaluation, and implementation of advanced oxidation processes (AOPs), particularly UV-based AOPs, ion...

Rena Sharon
Professor,

UBC

Faculty of Arts
School of Music

Born in Montreal, Canada, Rena Sharon began her life in chamber music at the age of eight. Her early studies were with Professor Dorothy Morton, and she continued her training at the Eastman School and Indiana University. Principal teachers were Menahem Pressler and Gyorgy Sebok, Janos Starker,...

Tetsuro Shigematsu
Artist,

UBC Research-based Theatre Collaborative

A former writer for CBC Television’s This Hour Has 22 Minutes, Tetsuro Shigematsu, became the first person-of-colour to host a daily national radio program in Canada when he took over The Roundup on CBC Radio. As a theatre artist, his most recent theatre work, 1 Hour...

External Advisory

Mindy Carter
Associate Professor,

McGill University

Dr. Mindy R. Carter is an Associate Professor in the Department of Integrated Studies in Education (DISE). She conducts research in curriculum studies, drama and theatre education primarily with in-service and pre-service teachers with a focus on questions of social justice, art processes,...

Graham Lea
Assistant Professor,

University of Manitoba

Dr. Graham Lea joined the faculty of Education at the University of Manitoba as assistant professor of drama education and language and literacy in August 2016. Previously he served as an assistant professor at the National Institute of Education/Nanyang Technological University in...

Nisha Sajnani
Associate Professor,

NYU

Dr. Nisha Sajnani, RDT-BCT, is the Director of the Program in Drama Therapy at NYU Steinhardt and on the faculty of the Rehabilitation Sciences Ph.D. and Educational Theatre Ed.D/Ph.D. programs. She is the Director of the Theatre & Health Lab which includes the As Performance...

Prue Wales

University of Melbourne

I am educator, researcher and theatre maker who has primarily worked in tertiary institutions in Australia, Singapore and Hong Kong over much of the past two decades. As a researcher and playwright, I am particularly drawn to researched performance as a means of presenting and reporting data. I...

Estella Wong
Associate Dean,

The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts

Estella Wong is currently the Associate Professor and the Head of Applied Theatre in the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. Graduated from the Academy and Birmingham City University, Estella had joined two professional theatre companies, Prospects Theatre Company and Chung Ying Theatre...

UBC Cluster Members

Patricia M. Barkaskas
Associate Professor of Teaching,

UBC

Peter A. Allard School of Law

Patricia M. Barkaskas is Métis from Alberta. Her research focuses on the intersection of justice and law, including access to justice, clinical legal education, and decolonizing and Indigenizing law. She is particularly interested in examining the value of Indigenous pedagogies in experiential...

Laura Bulk
PhD Student,

UBC

Faculty of Medicine
Occupational Science and Therapy

Laura Yvonne Bulk (@LYBOT) is a friend, learner, woman, teacher, disabled person, occupational therapist, Christian, artist, scholar, advocate, and activist. Her work focuses on enhancing diversity and understanding, and promoting human dignity and flourishing. As a public scholar, Laura aims to...

Grant Charles
Associate Professor,

UBC

Social Work

Dr. Grant Charles is Associate Professor in the School of Social Work and an affiliated faculty with the Division of Adolescent Health and Medicine in the Department of Pediatrics with the Faculty of Medicine. He holds an adjunct appointment with the School of Child and Youth Care at the...

Derek Gladwin
Assistant Professor,

UBC

Faculty of Education
Department of Language and Literacy Education

Derek Gladwin is an Assistant Professor of Language and Literacy Education and a Sustainability Fellow with the Centre for Interactive Research on Sustainability at the University of British Columbia. He has also held research fellowships at University of Amsterdam, University of Edinburgh...

Laen Hershler
PhD Student,

UBC

Faculty of Education
Department of Language and Literacy Education

Laen Hershler is a performing artist, expert facilitator of creative processes and an investigator in the field of Research Based Theatre (RBT). He has vast experience working with artists, business people, teachers and students of all ages and backgrounds. His facilitation style is engaging,...

Kedrick James
Associate Professor of Teaching / Deputy Department Head,

UBC

Faculty of Education
Department of Language and Literacy Education

Kedrick James is an Associate Professor of Teaching and Deputy Head of the Department of Language and Literacy Education at the University of British Columbia. He is also Director of the Digital Literacy Centre where he is engaged in creating innovative software, apps, and media projects that...

Michelle LeBaron
Professor,

UBC

Peter A. Allard School of Law

Professor Michelle LeBaron is an internationally recognized interdisciplinary scholar on conflict transformation, arts and resilience. Upon joining the Peter A. Allard School of Law, she directed the UBC Program on Dispute Resolution from 2003-2012. As an Associate Professor at the School for...

Michael Lee
Associate Professor of Teaching,

UBC

Faculty of Medicine
Occupational Science and Therapy

Growing up in a culture with strong work ethics and values, Michael never doubts the values of occupation and work. Having practiced as an occupational therapist in the field of Mental Health Rehabilitation for over 35 years, he developed a passion for enabling people with psychosocial needs to...

Virginie Magnat
Associate Professor,

UBC

Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies

Research and Teaching Interests

Performance Studies, Cultural Anthropology, Experimental Ethnography, Indigenous Epistemologies and Methodologies, Ritual Performance, Embodied Research, Physically-Based Performance Training, Body-Voice Integration, Traditional Singing,...

Minelle Mahtani
Associate Professor,

UBC

Faculty of Arts
Institute for Social Justice

Minelle Mahtani is Associate Professor at the Institute for Social Justice at UBC. She is also the Senior Advisor to the Provost on Racialized Faculty where she supports the recruitment and retention of racialized faculty. She is also a former national television news journalist at the CBC and...

Yael Mayer
Postdoctoral Fellow,

UBC

Faculty of Medicine
Occupational Science and Therapy

Dr. Yael Mayer is a postdoctoral research fellow at the Department of Occupational Therapy and Occupational Science at the University of British Columbia. Yael has a doctoral degree in Clinical Psychology from Tel-Aviv University; she is a registered clinical psychologist in Israel and a...

Amir Michalovich
PhD Student,

UBC

Faculty of Education
Department of Language and Literacy Education

Amir Michalovich is a PhD student in the Language and Literacy Education Department. His area of specialization is multimodality in education, particularly the ways in which multimodal meaning-making can facilitate immigrant and refugee students’ engagement and integration in school learning....

Anne Murphy
Associate Professor,

UBC

Faculty of Arts
Department of Asian Studies

Anne Murphy is Associate Professor in the Department of Asian Studies at the University of British Columbia and co-Director of the Centre for India and South Asia Research in the Institute of Asian Research. She is also Interim Associate Dean for Faculty and Program Development with the...

Jennica Nichols
PhD Student,

UBC

Faculty of EducationFaculty of Medicine
Department of Language and Literacy EducationSchool of Population Health and Centre for Applied Ethics

Hi! I am an inspiring implementation scientist and Ph.D. candidate in Interdisciplinary Studies. I have an undergraduate degree in molecular biology and biotechnology (BSc, University of Waterloo, 2008) and a master’s degree in epidemiology and global health (MPH, University of Toronto, 2012). I...

Bonny Norton
Distinguished University Scholar / Professor,

UBC

Faculty of Education
Department of Language and Literacy Education

Born and raised in Johannesburg, South Africa, in the turbulent apartheid years, Dr. Bonny Norton learnt at an early age the complex relationship between language, power, and identity. Now a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and a Distinguished University Scholar in the Department of...

John Oliffe
Associate Director / Professor,

UBC

School of Nursing

Dr. John Oliffe is a Professor and Associate Director Research at the School of Nursing, University of British Columbia. Founder and lead investigator of UBC’s Men’s Health Research program, his work focuses on masculinities as it influences men’s health behaviors and illness management, and its...

Raymond Pai
Lecturer / PhD Student,

UBC

Faculty of ArtsFaculty of Education

Raymond Pai is a Lecturer and the Director of the Cantonese Language Program at the University of British Columbia. He is also a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada-funded PhD student in the UBC Department of Language and Literacy Education.

He teaches all...

Geraldine Pratt
Professor,

UBC

Faculty of Arts
Geography

My research focuses on transnational migration, labour precarity and performance. I am currently completing a book on the travels of Caleb Johnston’s and my testimonial play, performed in Vancouver (2009), Berlin HAU1 (2009), Manila (PETA, 2013; in collaboration with Migrante International, 2014...

Marvin Westwood
Professor,

UBC

Faculty of Education
Counselling Psychology

Marvin “Marv” Westwood is Professor Emeritus of Counselling Psychology, in Educational & Counselling Psychology, and Special Education at the University of British Columbia. He currently has a post-retirement appointment to the Faculty of Education. His major areas of teaching and...

National & International Cluster Members

Katherine Boydell
Professor,

Black Dog Institute

Katherine Boydell is Professor of Mental Health at the Black Dog Institute. She also holds a number of Adjunct positions at leading Canadian institutions: Adjunct Senior Scientist, Child and Youth Mental Health Research Unit, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto; Adjunct Professor, Department of...

Scott Button
Artist,

UBC Research-based Theatre Collaborative

Scott is a playwright, screenwriter and actor, active in theatre, film & television. Produced plays of Scott's include Viva (Theatre BC Playwriting Award - Best One Act), The Hunger Room and Desire(e), the latter of which was recently published in Speakeasy...

Xia-bing Chi
Lecturer,

Ningbo University

Xia-Bing Chi is a Lecturer exploring Educational Drama in China in the College of Teacher Education, Ningbo University. She is also a practitioner and working with students in secondary schools in the People’s Republic of China. Her research focuses on using drama-based strategies to teach...

Lynn Fels
Professor,

SFU

Lynn Fels is Professor at Simon Fraser University in Arts Education. Her research interests include: performative inquiry; writing as inquiry, pedagogy, & reflection; collaborative research creation; participatory action research with women with incarceration experience; arts for social...

Hila Graf
Artist,

UBC Research-based Theatre Collaborative

Hila Graf is the Arts Club Theatre Company's Education & Outreach Associate. As a theatre director, educator and administrator - she is passionate about utilizing the language of theatre in order to ignite dialogue about unspoken matters in our society. She has facilitated community theatre...

Marilys Guillemin

University of Melbourne

Marilys Guillemin is a sociologist of health and illness, and Professor in the Centre for Health Equity, School of Population and Global Health at the University of Melbourne, Australia. Marilys is also the Associate Dean Learning and Teaching in the Faculty of Medicine Dentistry...

Rzgar Hama
Artist,

Sky Theatre Group

Originally from South Kurdistan, Vancouver-based playwright, theatre director, actor, acting coach and writer, Rzgar Hama currently serves as an artistic director for Sky Theatre Group. He started his theatre journey in 1984. Rzgar’s first adaptation and directing project was CANNIBALS in 1987,...

Scott Mealey

Centre for Audience Spectatorship and Audience Research (University of Toronto)

Scott has spent nearly two and a half decades exploring the convergence of performance, persuasion, and social affect. He is currently a doctoral student at the University of Toronto's Drama, Theatre and Performance Studies Centre, where his dissertation work interrogates the role of intent,...

Monica Prendergast
Professor,

University of Victoria

Dr. Monica Prendergast, is Professor of Drama/Theatre Education, Department of Curriculum & Instruction, University of Victoria. Her research interests are varied and include drama-based curriculum and pedagogy, drama/theatre in community contexts, and arts-based qualitative research...

Kirsten Sadeghi-Yekta

University of Victoria

Dr. Sadeghi-Yekta received her BA (Honours) and MA in Theatre Studies from Utrecht University, The Netherlands, and her Ph.D. in Drama, Applied Theatre from The University of Manchester, United Kingdom. She has taught at Simon Fraser University. Prior to teaching in Canada, she was a Lecturer in...

Joe Salvatore

NYU Steinhardt

Joe Salvatore is a Clinical Associate Professor of Educational Theatre and director of the Verbatim Performance Lab at NYU Steinhardt. His most recent project Making Gay History: Before Stonewall, a verbatim documentary theatre adaptation of Eric Marcus’s Making Gay...

David Savill
Artist,

Age Exchange

David Savill is the Artistic Director of the Reminiscence Arts charity Age Exchange based in the UK. Age Exchange specialises in working with older people and intergenerational groups to produce visual and performance arts devised and created from reminiscence. In the 1980s and 90s he...

Lauren Spring

University of Toronto

Lauren Spring is a PhD Candidate in the Adult Education and Community Development program at the University of Toronto. She holds an MA in International Development and a BFA in Theatre and Development and also studied at physical theatre conservatory L'ecole Jacques Le Coq in Paris, France. She...

Amanda Wager

Vancouver Island University

Amanda Claudia Wager, PhD is a Tier II Canada Research Chair in Community Research in Art, Culture & Education at Vancouver Island University in British Columbia, Canada. As an interdisciplinary scholar, Dr. Wager’s community research, teaching, and scholarship focuses in literacies,...

Linden Wilkinson

I became interested in performance as a methodology, when I discovered the existence of documentary theatre and particularly verbatim theatre. Having been aware of the revelatory nature of the spoken word forever as a performer, I combined that with a fascination for how community stories are...

Additional Cluster Members

Jan Hare, UBC Faculty (Indigenous Education)

Luke Bokenfohr, UBC Graduate Student
Phillip Lopresti, UBC Graduate Student
Janice Valdez, UBC Graduate Student
Avril Foster, UBC Graduate Student
Michelle Turner, UBC Graduate Student
Lara Aysal, UBC Graduate Student
Dacotah Splichalova, UBC Graduate Student
Daniel Ji, UBC Graduate Student
Brynn Williams, UBC Graduate Student
Sarah Calvert, UBC Graduate Student
Hailey Matheson, UBC Graduate Student
Hali McLennan, UBC Graduate Student
Jessi Knutson, UBC Graduate Student
Martina Shovar, UBC Graduate Student
Jada Benko, UBC Graduate Student

Tim Garthside, UVIC Graduate Student

Hoi Fai Wu, Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts
Mingshuai Yan, Sichuan Normal University
Julia Henderson, Concordia University
David Geary, Capilano University
Kyle Stooshnov, University of Alberta
Alisha Ali, New York University
Yanlin Xu, South China Agricultural University
James McKinnon, Quest University
Pamela Baer, University of Toronto
Foster Eastman, Community Artist
Tracy Averill, Community Artist
Bahareh Shigematsu, Community Artist
Ingrid Bousillion, Community Artist
Mark Zuberbuhler, Community Partner
Keyvan Maleki, Community Partner
Candace Cook, Community Partner
Yuval Jarus, Community Artist

Tim Laidler, Community Partner

Stephen Heatley, UBC Faculty (Theatre)

Lynn Bosetti, UBC-O Faculty (Higher Education)

Lawrence Berg, UBC-O Faculty (Georgraphy)

Eva Ziltener, University of Zurich

Erika Piazzoli, Trinity College Dublin

Phillip Naud, Independent artist, Paris

Diane Conrad, University of Alberta

Joelle Aden, University de Paris VII

Annie Cheung, Hong Kong Baptist University

Kathryn Dawson, University of Texas (Austin)

Stephani Woodson, Arizona State University

Mette Lyngstad, Western Norway University

Montserrat Paerera, Institut de Theatre, Spain

Esther Uria, University de Basque, Spain

Richard Sallis, University of Melbourne

Dan Harris, RMIT, Melbourne, Australia

Tara Goldstein, University of Toronto

Selena Busby, Central School of Drama, University of London

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Steering Committee

External Advisory

UBC Cluster Members

National & International Cluster Members

Additional Cluster Members