Masterclass: Art and Activism Research-Based Theatre

DOWNLOAD PRESENTATIONS BELOW

EMILY HURLEY, MPH, PHD 
SARANIYA THARMARAJAH

Emily Hurley earned her MPH and PhD from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She designed and taught “Communicating public health findings through research-based theatre” in the undergraduate Public Health Studies Program. She has coordinated researchers, theatre artists, and advocacy groups to produce original performances based on research surrounding sexual assault and HIV advocacy. As a public health professor, she is immersed in current research on COVID-19, particularly as it relates to social and ethical issues. She has extensive networks in public health research as a member of multiple domestic and international professional groups. 

Saraniya Tharmarajah is a public health researcher and theatre artist. She received her undergraduate degrees in Public Health Studies, Sociology, and Theatre Arts and Studies from Johns Hopkins University and her master’s in Evidence-Based Social Intervention and Policy Evaluation from University of Oxford. She has written, directed, and performed in various original plays, including award-winning research-based theatre pieces.

JOE SALVATORE

Joe Salvatore directs NYU Steinhardt's Verbatim Performance Lab and teaches courses in verbatim performance, ethnodrama, applied / community-engaged theatre, and new play development. His most recent project Making Gay History: Before Stonewall, a verbatim documentary theatre adaptation of Eric Marcus’s Making Gay History books and podcast series, premiered at the Provincetown Playhouse in February 2020. In 2017, Joe collaborated with economist Maria Guadalupe (INSEAD-France), to create Her Opponent, a verbatim re-staging of excerpts of the 2016 presidential debates with gender-reversed casting. This production was nominated for an Off Broadway Alliance Award for Best Unique Theatrical Experience and received media coverage from multiple national and international news outlets.
 

JONATHAN P. JONES, PHD
​

Jonathan P. Jones, PhD, is an advisor, faculty member, and coordinator of doctoral studies at NYU Steinhardt Department of Music and Performing Arts Professions for the Program in Educational Theatre. For NYU, he teaches courses in pedagogy and theatre history; at CUNY, he teaches courses in public speaking and theatre history. He has presented on research, creativity, and pedagogy in the US, UK, China, and Iraq. Jonathan frequently stage directs for the New York City Gay Men’s Chorus, most recently Quiet No More: A Celebration of Stonewall at Carnegie Hall for World Pride, 2019. 

​