ABOUT ME I am a recently-minted PhD in the Department of Special Education at the University of Kansas. My research agenda explored scholarship from the specialization Disability and Diversity in Education and Society.
My dissertation was a narrative inquiry of lived experience in Juvenile Justice in Kansas.
Over the past 25 years, I have worked as a social justice advocate and teaching artist with children, youth, and adults with identified and unidentified [dis]abilities in arts centers, schools, community settings and homes. Early in my career I experienced the therapeutic impact of the creative process in mediating crisis.
A registered Drama Therapist since 2008, my academic and professional aspirations have been framed by the exploration of creativity, connection, and growth using the elements found in theater and film.
The work of creating identity and finding our place in the world starts in early childhood. We must start early in offering creative interventions to children in our classrooms and community. We must take a holistic approach to engagement, allowing them to rehearse their goals and needs and "play" in the liminal spaces of the classroom and the world.
“The function of art is to do more than tell it like it is-it's to imagine what is possible.”
