Student Achievements
Social Innovation Graduate Student Presents at MPCA/ACA Conference
January 10, 2022
Social Innovation graduate student, Amy Phillips, presented at the annual conference for the Midwest Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association (MPCA/ACA) in Minneapolis, Minnesota on October 7, 2021.
The MPCA is a regional branch of the Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association (PCA/ACA). The PCA is an organization of scholars and enthusiasts who study popular culture and offers a venue where members can share ideas and interests about the field. Its mission is to promote the global study of popular culture by establishing conferences, publications, and discussions.
Phillips presented her paper titled Inciting Virgílio: Augusto Boal's Theatre of the Oppressed as Social Innovation, describinga social justice form of theatre called Theatre of the Oppressed (TO) as a radical social innovation that challenges systems. Her inspiration came from combining her undergraduate studies with her current studies as a graduate student.
“I chose this as the subject of my final paper, a research proposal, for my very first graduate class in Social Innovation,” said Phillips. “My undergraduate degree is in theatre arts, and while I worked in many professional theaters as a stage manager, teacher, and director, I ultimately settled into a more social justice-oriented version of the art form.”
Phillips has studied TO with its founder, Augusto Boal, and his son Julian at workshops in New York City from 2007 to 2009. “TO is more than simply using the arts for social change; it's a revolutionary tool, even a ‘weapon,’ in Boal's terms,” said Phillips.
She also has a review of the comprehensive book, The Routledge Companion to Theatre of the Oppressed, that is published in the Pedagogy and Theatre of the Oppressed Journal’s most recent issue.
Congratulations, Amy Phillips!