Date of Award

Spring 5-21-2022

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

MA - Master of Arts

Department

Expressive Therapies

Advisor

Jason Frydman

Abstract

As a growing number of university students complete school online, either by choice, or due to the unpredictability and severity of the Covid-19 pandemic, new issues have arisen regarding the structures in place to assist students in developing peer support. Within the drama therapy graduate field, students studying online may lack creative ways to express and connect with others in the virtual classroom. Thus, this community engagement project was designed to offer drama therapy students studying at Lesley University opportunities to learn, perform, and watch playback theatre, with the goal of increasing peer engagement, community connection, and clinical insight. Based on student reflections during the event, preliminary evidence suggests that students who engaged in the playback theatre performance felt a greater sense of connection to peers after attending. Implications for further research suggest examining how playback theatre may influence and strengthen students’ empathy and social connection to one another, potentially supporting students’ engagement in course curriculum and overall psychological experience attending school online.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Download

Share

COinS
 

Rights

The author owns the copyright to this work.