Megan Alrutz

Megan Alrutz joined The University of Texas at Austin as Assistant Professor of Applied Theatre and Community Cultural Engagement in 2009. Previously, she was on the faculty of the University of Central Florida where she developed and led the M.F.A. program in Theatre for Young Audience for five years. Megan earned a Ph.D. in Theatre (with an emphasis in Theatre for Youth) from Arizona State University, and a B.A. in Theatre from Rutgers University. Her creative and scholarly interests focus on applied theatre and theatre for young audiences, including school-based, arts-infusion and community-embedded performance; devising and directing theatre and digital storytelling to explore issues of voice and identity; and developing new work that changes the way young people participate in, contribute to, and are valued by society.
 
Megan works nationally as a facilitator of professional development in arts-infusion and drama-based pedagogy and practice, and as a professional director and dramaturg. She also has over 10 years experience in applied arts and digital media with youth. She was instrumental in developing and directing ArtsBridge UCF and Digital U, two Orlando-based applied arts/media programs that engage the university in long-term arts partnerships with local schools and communities. Some of Megan's recent projects include working as the dramaturg for Mo Willems's new musical Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Musical (Kennedy Center, 2011-2012), and working with UT students on an interactive, web-based, storytelling project called mappingDESIRE. She currently partners with Lynn Hoare and the Center for Women’s and Gender Studies to devise new work with youth through an applied theatre program called the Performing Justice Project (supported by the Embrey Foundation). Megan also directs an applied theatre and digital storytelling program called InsideOUT, a partnership with Austin’s Out Youth.
 
Megan publishes and presents on issues of responsible representation and current trends in drama/theatre for youth and communities. She is co-editor of Playing with Theory in Theatre Practice (Palgrave Macmillan 2011) and her current book project is titled Performing Possibility: Digital Storytelling as Applied Theatre Practice with Youth. From 2006-2010, Megan was the editor of TYA Today, the only professional publication dedicated to professional theatre for young audiences.  During her tenure at the University of Central Florida, Megan was appointed a Research Associate with CREATE (Center for Research and Education in Arts, Technology, and Entertainment), and served as a Faculty Fellow of the Academy of Teaching, Learning, and Leadership where she studied Service Learning and Mindful Reflection. Megan is a Winifred Ward recipient (2003) and earned the Grace Hill Milam Centennial Fellowship in Fine Arts (UT, 2011), Excellence in Graduate Teaching (UCF, 2008) and Service Learning Faculty Excellence (UCF, 2007). Dr. Megan Alrutz is a board member of TYA/USA, and an active member of AATE, PSi, ATHE, and IFTR.