Laen Hershler will be defending his MA thesis at 10:00 am (Pacific Time) on Monday, December 21st virtually via Zoom.
All are welcome to attend.
Join Zoom Meeting (please arrive 5 minutes early)
Meeting ID: 627 1250 0161
Passcode: 775978
Supervisory Committee:
Dr. George Belliveau (supervisor), Dr. David Beare, Dr. Graham W. Lea (external)
Title: The Four Quadrants of Research-based Theatre
Abstract:
Research-based Theatre (RbT) is a relatively new academic methodology, gaining increased popularity across the social sciences, that involves using theatre conventions and public performance within the framework of a systematic research process (Bishop, 2014; Beck et al., 2011; Belliveau & Lea, 2016). One of the great challenges facing practitioners of this methodology is to develop frameworks for assessment and evaluation that satisfy the needs of its overlapping artistic, research and pedagogical considerations (Lea, 2012). Over the past two years, I have had the opportunity to participate as an artist-researcher on the teams of three RbT projects: Alone in the Ring, Dark Secrets and Don’t Rock the Boat. Over that time, I was a facilitator, director, research assistant, and actor supporting the creative work while, simultaneously, using my experiences to explore new frameworks for reflective evaluation. In this thesis I propose an adapted four quadrants (Wilber, 1997) framework for reflective analysis where inquiry is organized according to four essential perspectives: the subjective, objective, intersubjective and inter-objective. The results of which, I believe, begin to carve out a more holistic reflection strategy that can offer practitioners the tools to unravel the many layers of learning found within this methodology.