April 26, 2016
Granted once every three years by The University of Texas at Austin Office of the Executive Vice President and Provost, this award recognizes the belief that education involves positive change and is the aggregate of all processes by means of which a person, or groups of people, develop abilities, attitudes and other forms of behavior of positive value to the society in which they participate.
“Professor Alrutz is internationally celebrated for her use of digital technology to tell the deepest and most important stories in the community for the purpose of healing, growth and connection,” shares Dr. Brant Pope, Department of Theatre and Dance chair. “There could not be a clearer statement of what drives the educational passion of Professor Alrutz than this description of the changing power of teaching and learning.”
An example of Alrutz’s merging of clinical practice and scholarship is her creation of the Performing Justice Project. Funded by the Embrey Foundation, this multi-disciplinary endeavor combines performance, community engagement, gender and social theory, devised theatre practice (creating a performance script collaboratively) and audience participation. This project centers on incarcerated young women who devise a live and digitally mediated performance piece based on their own life experiences related to social justice.
“The addition of media-based performance tools draws in youth whose interests lie in digital media, visual art, film and television – youths who might otherwise not join a theatre or performance program,” explains Alrutz in her book Digital Storytelling: Applied Theatre and Youth. “The merging of applied theatre and digital storytelling allows me to engage young people who might typically be excluded from the privilege of regular, ongoing participation in ensemble-based work.”
About Dr. Megan Alrutz
Dr. Megan Alrutz joined the University of Texas at Austin as an assistant professor of applied theatre and community cultural engagement in 2009. Previously, she was on the faculty of the University of Central Florida where she developed and led the M.F.A. program in Theatre for Young Audience for five years. Dr. Alrutz earned a Ph.D. in Theatre (with an emphasis in Theatre for Youth) from Arizona State University, and a B.A. in Theatre from Rutgers University. Her creative and scholarly interests focus on applied theatre, digital storytelling, and theatre for young audiences. She works nationally as a facilitator of professional development in drama-based pedagogy and practice, as well as arts and technology integration. She is also a professional director and dramaturg. Learn more about her work.