Mary McAvoy

Dr. Mary McAvoy is an associate professor in the School of Music, Dance and Theatre and director for the Theatre for Youth and Community undergraduate and graduate programs. Her research and creative practice focus on histories of theatre and drama in educational contexts; performance pedagogy and activism (particularly in US labor movements); educational theatre/drama, theatre teacher preparation, and teaching artistry; radical and experimental performance in youth cultures; and arts education policy.

She is the author of Rehearsing Revolutions: The Labor Drama Experiment and Radical Activism in the Early Twentieth Century (University of Iowa Press - Studies in Theatre History and Culture; 2019 Choice Outstanding Academic Title; 2020 Theatre Library Association George Freedley Memorial Award Finalist), co-author of Drama and Education: Performance Methodologies for Teaching and Learning (Routledge) and co-editor of The Routledge Companion to Drama in Education and Youth and Performance: Perceptions of the Contemporary Child (OLMS). Recently, she has received an Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Fellowship jointly awarded by Historical Society of Pennsylvania and the Library Company of Philadelphia and a Short-Term Research Fellowship from The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts for her work on histories of theatre in education and theatre for youth. Her articles have appeared in Youth Theatre Journal, The Journal of American Drama and Theatre, Arts Education Policy Review, and various edited collections. She serves on the editorial board and has guest edited for multiple journals.

As a practitioner-researcher, she works extensively in education and community engagement for performance and theatre. She has presented intensives and professional development in theatre teaching and theatre arts curriculum development in the US, Russia, and China and has developed engagement programs for a variety of audiences in professional and educational theatres. In her capacity as a director and dramaturge, she prioritizes new, experimental, and avant-garde works for young audiences (birth - age 25). 

She teaches courses in theatre history, research methods, and theatre teaching methods preK-16+ in both the undergraduate and graduate theatre programs. She also directs the theatre education teacher certification programs.