How can the employment of Intersectional Feminism as pedagogy in conducting graduate research reposition the quality of the knowledge-making generated by such arts-based research practices within the larger interests of the neoliberal university? Building upon Dr. Kathleen Gallagher’s assertion in The Methodological Dilemma of the impossibility of assuming a position of objectivity in qualitative research, how does the feminist practice of making explicit ones’ situationality in relation to the work act as a foundational step in ethical investigation within the social sciences? Together, the authors discuss and explore techniques of practising research that do not feel disingenuous in the context of a field (theatre and performance) dominated by a neoliberal perspective to marginalized communities such as women and disabled people.
This presentation starts from 18 mins 25 secs to 30 mins 35 secs.
Related Resources
Jessica Watkin and Sarah Robbins interview each other about the role of intersectional feminism in the development of their respective research practices and teaching pedagogies as early career scholars. Asking “How do you show up for your students?,” Watkin and Robbins engage concepts of an ethics of care, intersectionality, interdependence, and disability justice in the Drama, Theatre and Performance Studies classroom in reflecting on their first experiences as course instructors teaching online during the Covid19 pandemic.
Presenters
Jessica Watkin
Jessica Watkin is a PhD Candidate at the University of Toronto’s Centre for Drama, Theatre and Performance Studies with research focusing on Disabled artists in Canada and their creation processes, dramaturgies, and support systems. She is a Blind and Disabled scholar, interdisciplinary artist, dramaturg, consultant, educator, and reader. She has been published in the Canadian Theatre Review, The Drama Review, and Theatre Research in Canada, and has attended Theatre Research conferences internationally. She currently co-facilitates the Disability, Pedagogy, and Performance Working Group at the Canadian Association of Theatre Research and is working to co-create definitions of what Accessibility Design and Disability Dramaturgy mean in a Canadian context.
Sarah Robbins
Sarah Robbins is a PhD Candidate at the University of Toronto’s Graduate Centre for Drama, Theatre and Performance Studies (CDTPS). She holds a B.A. Hons. and a diploma in Professional Actor Training from the theatre and drama studies program jointly held at the University of Toronto Mississauga and Sheridan College, and an M.A. from the CDTPS. Recently, Sarah co-organized the inaugural Got Your Back (GYB) Acting Educators Conference at Tarragon Theatre, as well as the 2019 Festival of Original Theatre/Theory/Thought (FOOT) Conference at CDTPS on the theme of “Equity & Diversity in the Performing Arts.” Current projects include working as a Research Assistant for the SSHRC-funded Gatherings Partnership, and acting as the Graduate Student Representative on the Board of Directors of the Canadian Association for Theatre Research (CATR). She has shared her work at CATR and PSi, and has published her work in alt.theatre magazine, and HowlRound Theatre Commons.
