Scholarship & Creative Practice
My scholarship sits at the intersection of theatre education, creative practice, and higher education, advancing equity-centered approaches to teacher preparation and institutional transformation.
Research Focus
My work explores:
- Identity and representation in theatre education
- Creative practice as research and inquiry
- Equity-centered teacher preparation
- Arts-based methodologies, including ethnodrama
- Institutional transformation in arts education
My scholarship integrates qualitative research, arts-based inquiry, and performance to examine identity, power, and transformation across theatre education and higher education. I am particularly interested in how teacher preparation programs can function as sites of equity-driven institutional change.
My work bridges research and practice to advance justice-centered approaches to theatre education.
Select Peer-Reviewed & Scholarly Publications
Bringing Personal Identity into our Learning Spaces
Bringing Personal Identity into our Learning Spaces
Bringing Personal Identity into our Learning Spaces
Kavanakudiyil, S. (2024). Bringing Personal Identity into our Learning Spaces. The Vermont Connection, 45(1). https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/tvc/vol45/iss1/14
Drama in Education
Bringing Personal Identity into our Learning Spaces
Bringing Personal Identity into our Learning Spaces
Kavanakudiyil, Sobha. (2023). Drama in Education. Open Resource Manual. https://cuny.manifoldapp.org/projects/drama-in-education
My Experience with Artists
Bringing Personal Identity into our Learning Spaces
My Experience with Artists
Kavanakudiyil, Sobha. (2018). My Experience with Artists. Incite/Insight. 3(2018) pp 24-31. http://joom.ag/DJia/p24
Dissertation
My written scholarship centers identity, representation, and belonging within learning environments, contributing to broader conversations in theatre education and higher education research.
Selected Conference Presentations & Invited Talks
I regularly present research and creative scholarship at national and international conferences across theatre education and higher education.
Selected venues include:
- American Alliance for Theatre & Education (AATE)
- Educational Theatre Association (EdTA)
- New York City Arts in Education Roundtable
My presentations include practice based workshkops, research, performance, and reflective frameworks to support equity-centered transformation in teacher preparation.
Signature Keynotes
Beyond the Spotlight
Centering identity, voice, and power in theatre education through research and storytelling.
From Voice to Action
Applying the VOICE Framework to reimagine theatre education and institutional practice.
Creative Practice as Inquiry
Exploring storytelling and ethnodrama as research and pedagogy in higher education.
Creative & Performance-Based Scholarship
My research extends into performance as a mode of inquiry and dissemination. Through ethnodrama and applied theatre, I explore how embodied storytelling can illuminate lived experience and invite institutional reflection.
Beyond the Spotlight
An ethnodrama drawn from my doctoral research, this work amplifies composite narratives of female-identifying performing artists navigating race, gender, and professional precarity in audition and training spaces.
The work functions as both artistic practice and research intervention, engaging audiences in dialogue around power, representation, and systemic change within theatre education.
In conference and educational settings, my performance-based scholarship invites audiences to move beyond abstract theory toward embodied engagement with justice-centered practice.
SCHEDULE A TIME TO MEET WITH SOBHA
I would love to speak with you about how we can work together.