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scad faculty portrait of Courtney Grile

Courtney Grile

Liberal arts professor

Education

  • Ph.D., Drama, Trinity College Dublin
  • M.F.A., theatre, University of Central Florida
  • B.F.A., media and performing arts, Savannah College of Art and Design

Credentials

  • Professor of liberal arts, 2023–present, Savannah College of Art and Design, Savannah, GA
  • Postgraduate teaching assistant, drama, 2019–22, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
  • Adjunct instructor, theatre, 2017, Georgia Southern University – Armstrong Campus, Savannah, GA
  • Adjunct instructor, theatre, 2017, University of South Carolina – Beaufort, Bluffton, SC
  • Director of theatre for youth and communities, 2015–17, Marin Theatre Company, Mill Valley, CA
  • Director of education and engagement, 2014–15, Limelight Theatre Company, St. Augustine, FL
  • Graduate teaching assistant, theater, 2010–13, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL

Awards, recognitions, and honors

  • Special Commendation as a Finalist for a Postgraduate Teaching Award, Trinity College Dublin, 2023
  • Postgraduate Research Studentship, Trinity College Dublin, 2019–22
  • Early Career Researcher, Trinity Long Room Hub, 2019–22
  • Graduate Student Conference Fellowship, Association for Theatre in Higher Education, 2019
  • Creative Capacity Fund Quick Grant, Center for Cultural Innovation in California, 2016, 2017
  • Graduate Research Assistantship, University of Central Florida, 2010–13
  • Artist Development Grant, United Arts of Florida, 2012
  • Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development Scholarship, New York University, 2012

Organizations

  • National Communication Association, 2023–present
  • International Drama In Education Research Institute, 2022–present
  • International Federation for Theatre Research, 2020–present
  • American Society for Theatre Research, 2019–present
  • Lessac Training and Research Institute, 2018–present
  • Association for Theatre in Higher Education, 2011–present
  • Political Science Association, 2020–22
  • TYA USA, 2010–17
  • American Alliance for Theatre and Education, 2010–15

Publications and presentations

  • July 2025. Book Chapter. With Amanda Hill. "Devising Democracy: Inclusive Rhetoric and Communication through Devised Theatre Processes." Casting the Art of Rhetoric With Theatre and Drama: Taking Center Stage, edited by Adrienne Hacker Daniels.
  • November 2024. Presentation. "Revisiting, Reaffirming and Revitalizing the Relationship Between Theatre/Drama and Rhetoric," National Communication Association Conference, New Orleans, LA, USA.
  • July 2023. Journal Article. "Attempting to Pin Down Jelly: Identifying and Describing Six Key Principles of Applied Drama," NJ: Drama Australia Journal.
  • May 2023. Journal Article. "Cessair: A Work of Feminist Performance Ethnography by the SoloSIRENs Collective," New Theatre Quarterly, Volume 39, No. 2.
  • October 2022. Invited Talk. "Democratizing Your Workshops," Fuse Theatre Company.
  • July 2022. Paper Presentation. "Democratisation through Drama: Applied Drama Praxis and the Democratic Theories of Chantal Mouffe." International Drama in Education Research Institute Conference, Univ. of Warwick, UK.
  • June 2022. Paper Presentation. "Creative Democracy: Betwixt and Between Applied Drama and Deliberative Democracy." International Federation for Theatre Research (IFTR) Conference, Univ. of Iceland, Iceland.
  • April 2022. Journal Article. with Jennifer Edmond, Michelle Doran, Vicky Garnett, Eliza Papaki, and Erzsébet Toth-Czifra. "Scholarly Primitives of Scholarly Meetings: A DH-Inspired Exploration of the Virtual Incunabular in the Time of COVID 19," Digital Humanities Quarterly, Volume 16, No. 2.
  • December 2021. Podcast. "Creating Together: Before, During, and After the COVID-19 Pandemic." The Hublic Sphere Season 2, Episode 3.
  • December 2021. Essay. "Seeking Connection." What the Pandemic Means: Perspectives from the Trinity Long Room Hub Covid-19 Blog Collection, Edited by Aoife King, https://doi.org/10.25546/97702.
  • November 2021. Book Review. "The Applied Theatre Artist: Responsivity and Expertise in Practice, by Kay Hepplewhite," Research in Drama Education: The Journal of Applied Theatre and Performance.
  • August 2021. Paper Presentation. "Uniting Theory and Practice: A Look Into the Nature Of Democracy Within Applied Drama Praxis." Drama for Life Conference and Festival – Performing Democracy: The Fire. The Fight. The Fiction.
  • August 2021. Presentation. "Creative Democracy," ATHE Conference. Online.
  • August 2021. Book Chapter. "Drama/Theatre and Democratisation: What Two Revolutions Reveal." Building Democracy through Theatre Anthology, edited by Bjørn Rasmussen, Petro Janse Van Vuuren, and Ayanda Khala-Phiri, https://doi.org/10.23865/noasp.135.
  • July 2021. "Applied Drama in the Political-Ecological landscape of Liberal Democracy." International Federation for Theatre Research (IFTR) Conference, Online.
  • June 2021. "Creative Connections: An Arts-Based Approach to Engaging." Amsterdam School of Cultural Analysis International Workshop 2021. Online.
  • May 2021. "Working Toward an Ideology of Applied Drama." Irish Society for Theatre Research Conference. Online.
  • March 2021. "Rethinking Deliberative Democracy through a Creative Lens" Political Science Association Conference. Online.
  • November 2020. Online Blog. "The Body and the Pandemic: Seeking Connection," Trinity Long Room Hub COVID-19 Crisis Blog.
  • August 2019. "Theotrocracy: How Drama and Democracy Work Together" ATHE Conference, Orlando, FL.
  • December 2015. Online Blog. "Recognizing and Embracing the Other," TYA/USA: The TYA Blog.
  • June 2015. Online Blog. "The Process AS the Product," TYA/USA: The TYA Blog.
  • July 2012. Paper Presentation. "Commonalities Between Drama in Education and Community-Engaged, Participatory Theatre Practice." International Drama in Education Research Institute Conference, Limerick, Ireland.