Four FTT faculty got the attention of the Association for Theatre in Higher Education (ATHE) at its 2026 conference in Baltimore.
Patrick McKelvey won the Outstanding Article Award for his Theatre Journal article "'Honest Work Done by Honest Dogs': Canine Unemployment, Interspecies Rehabilitation, and Disability Performance." This award acknowledges scholarship marked by methodological sophistication, complex and critical engagement with dramatic texts and performances, focused inquiries, and possible directions for future scholarship.
Anne García-Romero garnered the Edited Works Award for María Irene Fornés in Context, co-edited with Brian Eugenio Herrera. The Edited Works Award recognizes multi-authored edited projects in the fields of theatre and performance that demonstrate complex and critical engagement with dramatic texts, performances, histories, theories, practices, and/or pedagogies.
Tarryn Chun presented the Asian Theatre Journal (ATJ) Lecture on her book Revolutionary Stagecraft: New Methods for the Study of Modern Chinese Theatre. The ATJ Lecture is a long-standing tradition that invites a leading scholar to reflect on the development of the field, introduce new research methods, and offer perspectives on future directions in Asian theatre and performance studies. Chun was also the coordinator for a session on "Internationalizing ATHE," highlighting challenges in the field and asking, "How can we more effectively engage scholars from across the globe to advance the study and visibility of non-Western theater?"
Sarah Gitenstein presented 'The Body Onstage: Best Practices in Directing' for the Directing Debut Panel, a session for emerging scholars and directors presenting at ATHE for the first time, highlighting new research, practice, and pedagogy in theatre directing. She also joined a roundtable on Casting Queer Theater, which brought academics and professionals together to discuss how the industry is changing around casting in both academic and professional settings. In conjunction with ATHE, Gitenstein also presented at Association for Theatre Movement Educators pre-conference on "What the Body Carries: Sustainable Practice for Theatre Artists" with her collaborator Avi Wolf, exploring how centering the mind-body relationship in rehearsal can reduce harm.
An advocate for the field of theatre and performance in higher education, ATHE serves as an intellectual and artistic center for producing new knowledge about theatre and performance-related disciplines, cultivating vital alliances with other scholarly and creative disciplines, linking with professional and community-based theatres, and promoting access and equity.