2025 AAP at ATHE Schedule

The Association for Asian Performance (AAP) typically takes place immediately before the

Association for Theatre in Higher Education (ATHE) conference, as it serves as a preconference. This year, however, marks an exception: ATHE will be held virtually from July 28 to August 1, 2025, while AAP will take place in person on July 22–23, 2025, at Hunter College, City University of New York.

ATHE is offering greater flexibility this year, allowing presenters to be added up until the day of the conference. Information gathered below is up to date as of July 19, 2025.

AAP Panels at ATHE

Annual Conference 2025

JULY 29

12:15 PM - 1:45 PM (ET) Staging Spectacles: Crafting Chinese Cultural Heritage in Traditional Theater and Beyond

Jasmine Chen (Associate Professor of Chinese and Asian Studies, Utah State University)

Liana Chen (Associate Professor of Chinese and International A]airs, George Washington University)

Yu-ning Liu (Ph.D Candidate, University of British Columbia)

Hsiao-Chun Wu

This session explores the dynamic interplay between real, virtual, and hybrid worlds in shaping Chinese cultural heritage representation through traditional theater and its crossmedia adaptations. In the digital era, traditional Chinese theater transcends borders and media platforms, merging historical narratives with contemporary sociopolitical realities. While often stereotyped as static and conventional, traditional theater’s adaptation into documentation—video recording, verbal narrative, streaming, etc.—reveals its ability to challenge these perceptions and engage audiences in ever-transforming ways. Central to this discussion is the tension between the representation and manipulation of reality in theater and its documentation. How do political and cultural forces utilize traditional theater to project idealized national images? Conversely, how can traditional theater, as a living heritage, resist or reinforce these narratives? This session examines how documentation, as both preservation and re-creation, becomes a crucial stage for governments to showcase their cultural heritages as spectacles through traditional theaters. Documenting theater reshapes the meaning of cultural heritage circulation. Currently, four speakers address this central theme through distinct traditional Chinese theaters. Liana Chen analyzes The Peony Pavilion in Kunqu (Kun opera), focusing on how imperial patronage and audience preferences transform the flower spirits’ performance into a visual spectacle. Hsiao-Chun Wu examines how a Jingju (Beijing opera) venue, the state-managed China Armed Forces Literature and Art Activities Center, preserves personal histories, emotions, and nostalgia for Chinese immigrants in post-war Taiwan. Jasmine Chen investigates how the digital circulation of Yueju actress Chen Lijun’s cross-gender performances transform traditional Chinese theater into a dynamic spectacle. Yu-ning Liu examines the impact of the museum space on Kunqu performance. This session is open to anyone to join the discussion and reflect on the creative and political dimensions of staging and documenting traditional theaters across Sinophone communities, where realities are continually negotiated.

12:15 PM - 1:45 PM (ET) Asian Theatre Journal Lecture: Unlikely Archives in the Study of

Indonesian Theatre and Performance

Matthew Isaac Cohen (Professor at University of Connecticut)

A scholar-practitioner specializing in Indonesian performing arts, global traditions of puppet theatre, intercultural and transnational performance, and cultural heritage, Matthew Isaac Cohen is a professor in the Department of Dramatic Arts at the University of Connecticut. After completing a Ph.D. in anthropology at Yale University, he was a postdoc at the International Institute for Asian Studies in The Netherlands and taught at the University of Glasgow and Royal Holloway, University of London in the United Kingdom, before returning to Connecticut to contribute to UConn’s renowned Puppet Arts program. He has also held visiting appointments and fellowships at Universitas Nasional (Indonesia), Sanata Dharma University (Indonesia), University of Malaya (Malaysia), the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities and Social Sciences, Yale University Art Gallery, and Yale Institute of Sacred Music. His books include three monographs: the award-winning The Komedie Stamboel: Popular Theater in Colonial Indonesia, 1891-1903; Performing Otherness: Java and Bali on International Stages, 1905-1952; and Inventing the Performing Arts: Modernity and Tradition in Colonial Indonesia. Trained in traditional shadow puppet theatre (wayang kulit) in Java, his contributions to Indonesian puppetry are recognized by royal titles from the courts of Kacirebonan, Kasepuhan, and Surakarta Hadiningrat. He is a 2025 Guggenheim Fellow in Theatre and Performance Studies.

2:15 PM - 3:45 PM (ET) Warm Ups: Transitioning from the Real World into the Classroom "Students"

Adrienne Oehlers (Coordinator, Visiting Assistant Professor of Theatre, Chakeres Theatre)

Aviva Ne] (Coordinator, Assistant Professor of Theatre at Denison University)

Brittney Harris

Jacob Christiansen

Marc Devine

Jess Jung (Associate Professor & Associate Dean at North Dakota State University)

This session is created to be open to many co-presenters, with the idea that educators and practitioners from across many di]erent focus groups–acting, movement, musical theatre, applied theatre, etc.--can join in one virtual space to share warm-up exercises that help transition today’s students from the “real” outside world into their “real” practice-ready bodies. These might be exercises that you have used for years and still love or have adjusted, something you just stumbled upon, or something you wished other people knew about. As we teachers become more attuned and aware of the limitations of some “classic” exercises, what are some practical exercises you o]er in the classroom that consciously takes into account issues of inclusion, accessibility, and anti-racism (among others)? What new concerns of today’s students are interfering with their preparations for and the process of learning and how are you choosing to get them ready to enter into the journey of being fully present? How can we best a]ect all our students, whether this is for an acting class or rehearsal, a voice lesson or musical theatre repertoire class, a movement class, or anything they might encounter in their studies?

4:15 PM - 5:45 PM (ET) Working-in-Progress Session: Publishing with Asian Theater Journal

Editors:

Xing Fan (University of Toront

David Jortner (Baylor University)

Kevin Wetmore (Loyola Marymount University)

Siyuan Liu (University of British Columbia)

Students:

Jinhee Kim, (UCLA)

Wen Yu (Shanghai Theatre Academy/CUNY Graduate Center)

Rahul Koonathara (University of Connecticut)

Zijian Zhou (Shanghai Theatre Academy/CUNY Graduate Center)

Sinjini Chatterjee (Ohio State University)

Lun Yang (Shanghai Theatre Academy/CUNY Graduate Center)

Rose Schwietz Malla (One World Theatre and Agile Rascal Bicycle-Touring Theatre)

Asian theatre/performance/theory remains notably under-represented in the major generalist theatre studies journals. This session aims to help change that by helping to move works-in-progress toward journal submission in Asian Theater Journal. This session invites early-career scholars to submit a work-in-progress with the specific goal of getting assistance from the editors. The focus group will meet twice (on both Spring and Summer symposia) on the same publication work to make continuous improvements based on editors’ feedback.

JULY 30

12:00 PM - 1:30 PM (ET) Shifting Narratives: Surviving and Thriving Against the Tide

Daphnie Sicre (Coordinator)

Eunice Ferreira

Karl O'Brian Williams

Le'Mil Eiland

Nicole Brewer

Stephen Buescher

This affinity space invites faculty of color to connect, share strategies, and foster solidarity. The session addresses critical challenges and opportunities in academia through three sections: 1. Cultural Shifts Among Students: Explore the trend of BIPOC students favoring Eurocentric works over culturally-identified plays. Discuss how to inspire students to embrace powerful, culturally resonant narratives while countering the perception of whiteness as universal. 2. Thriving Amid DEI Resistance: Examine strategies to navigate institutions where diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs face opposition. Learn to create resilient programming and advocate for inclusive practices. 3. Building Networks of Support: Reflect on fostering solidarity among faculty of color. Strategize ways to uplift, heal, and thrive collectively while empowering students and reclaiming cultural authenticity. This panel o]ers a space to strategize, build networks, and champion the next generation of diverse storytellers.

3:30 PM - 5:00 PM (ET) Globalizing Asia in/through Theater and Performance

Zhen Cheng (Coordinator, Doctoral Student, Cornell University)

Kimberly Jew (Co-Converter, (Associate Professor of Theatre and Ethnic Studies, University of Utah)

Allen Baylosis (Ph.D. Candidate, University of British Columbia)

Wen Yu (Shanghai Theatre Academy/CUNY Graduate Center)

What defines “Asian” theater, and how do we conceptualize Asianness within an evolving global artistic landscape? Historically, discussions around Asian theater have often hinged on binaries—West versus East, tradition versus modernity, and originality versus adaptation. Area studies frameworks further divide Asia into a striated space marked by regime, nation, language, ethnicity, and culture, often reducing its diversity to fixed identities and isolated boundaries. As the field of theater studies advances toward anticolonial perspectives, embracing more nuanced understandings of intercultural exchange and relational identity, this session seeks to revisit and expand the question of Asianness within a renewed framework of relationality and interconnectivity. Moving beyond essentialized views of Asia, we aim to explore how Asian theater and performance, both in Asia and within diasporic contexts, resists static definitions and instead reflects complex histories of migration, transnational flows, and cross-cultural encounters. This panel examines how "Globalizing Asia" challenges rigid boundaries in both theory and practice, encouraging dialogue across Asia studies, Asian diaspora studies, and Asian American studies. We ask: How do contemporary Asian theater practices address and disrupt constructs of nation, ethnicity, and authenticity? How do transnational and inter-Asia networks foster new forms of theater that resonate with diasporic communities, racial minorities, and global audiences? By focusing on Asia as both a geographical and conceptual space, we explore the region as a site of ongoing negotiation, where definitions of Asianness are continually reshaped through artistic and cultural exchange. This session invites a theater studies discourse that transcends colonial frameworks and epistemology of area, embracing the diverse narratives and fluid identities that define contemporary Asian theaters and performances. Together, we will consider how “Globalizing Asia” reshapes understandings of performance, identity, and representation.

7:00–8:30 PM (ET) Internationalizing ATHE?: A Roundtable on Transnational Research and Practice

Kyueun Kim (Coordinator)

Dr. Beri Juraic (Co-convener, Associate Lecturer, Lancaster University, UK)

Dr. Aparna Ramachandran Nambiar (Assistant Professor of Dance, Davidson College, USA)

Dr. Corrie Tan (Artistic Director, Asian Dramaturgs Network; Arts Editor at Jom)

Dr. Weiyu Li (Independent Scholar, Vice President of the Association for Asian Performance)

Junesse Del Rosario Crisostomo (PhD Student, National University of Singapore; Faculty, University of the Philippines Diliman)

This session will invite scholars based outside the US and create a virtual space for them to connect with the AAP membership as well as the broader community of theatre scholars who attend ATHE. It will take the format of a virtual roundtable to share their transnational research and practice. Participants will reflect on the challenges and opportunities of navigating national, institutional, linguistic, or cultural boundaries, and discuss how these experiences have shaped their research and professional journeys. They will also reflect on how we, as a generation of scholars doing Asian theatre and performance, are in conversation with other fields and what we are bringing to, and expanding within, our own disciplines through such transdisciplinary inquiries and practices.

This session emerges from a pressing concern. At a time when the very notion of the “international” is under strain—politically contested and institutionally uneven—we ask what it means to engage transnationally, not just in name, but in method, practice, and solidarity. How have we inhabited, navigated, or pushed back against these shifting terrains in our research, teaching, and artistic work? What models of collaboration and knowledge-making are urgently needed now?

JULY 31

9:00 AM - 12:00 PM (ET) AI Working Group Call for Papers Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning, and Techno-Performative Futures in Asia/Asian Diaspora Studies

Menghang Wu (Independent Scholar)

Siming Lu (NYU Interactive Telecommunication Program)

Kaidi Li (Graduate Student, Shanghai Theater Academy, The Graduate Center, CUNY)

Yatin Lin (Associate Professor, Dance Studies, Taipei National University of the Arts)

Chee-Hann Wu (Postdoc, Theatre Studies, NYU)

Kyueun Kim (Postdoctoral Research Fellow, National University of Singapore)

Jyotsna A (AI and dance education: A study with reference to the curriculum design process of Indian Dance forms)

1:30 PM - 3:00 PM (ET) Rethinking Access and Inclusion: Conversations on Disability in Asian Performance Spaces

Sugandha Gupta (Assistant Professor, Fashion Design and Social Justice)

Priyanka D'Souza and Shreyasi Pathak (Affiliation: Artist duo)

Akhila Vimal C (Panel Coordinator, Independent Scholar)

Co-organized by the Asian Association for Performance’s Anti-Racism Committee and Disability Theatre and Performance, this roundtable opens a thoughtful and sensitive conversation on disability, access, and inclusion within Asian performance traditions. While Asian performance practices are culturally rich and deeply rooted in tradition, they have often operated within frameworks that leave questions of access and disability unexplored. This session creates a space for artists, educators, and scholars to engage in dialogue, honouring the diversity while embracing disability perspectives with care and cultural sensitivity. This roundtable builds upon conversations initiated during the Spring Symposium, bringing together Asian artists, performers, and educators actively working at these intersections. Rather than assuming resolution, this session approaches the topic with humility, asking: How can performance spaces—rooted in tradition—become more inclusive of disabled performers, artists, and audiences? How might these spaces hold room for di]erence without erasure, tokenization, or simplification? This conversation acknowledges the importance of centering cultural and social complexities—such as caste, ethnicity, gender, and historical context—while emphasising the leadership and lived experiences of disabled artists. It encourages reflection on how we might reimagine performance spaces and practices as places with space for di]erence, fostering access and inclusion. Participants will be invited to share reflections and questions, creating a collective, collaborative dialogue that recognizes learning as a shared and ongoing process. By amplifying disabled voices and cultivating sensitivity and care, this session aims to open pathways toward performance spaces that are inclusive, respectful, and deeply enriched by diversity and cultural heritage.

5:30 PM - 6:30 PM (ET) Different Realities: Adventures in the Queer Archive

Dr. David A. Crespy (Professor of Playwriting, Acting, Dramatic Literature, and Theatre History at the University of Missouri-Columbia)

Dr. Natka Bianchini (Theatre Area Head, Department of Visual and Performing Arts at Loyola University Maryland)

Sean F. Edgecomb, Ph.D. (he/him/his, Director, Fairfield University Arts Institute, Associate Professor of Theatre and WGS at Fairfield University)

Thomas Czerkawski (Doctoral Student at the University of Missouri)

Lesley Broder (Associate Professor in English, Kingsborough Community College, The City

University of New York)

Ali-Reza Mirsajadi (Artistic Director of Chicago Playworks, Assistant Professor , Theatre School at DePaul University)

Kanea MacDonald (Theatre Teaching Artist and Director, Theatre for Youth and Communities, Founder, RGV Children’s Theatre)

This session would look at new approaches to the Queer Archive, whether using traditional archives in new ways, exploring the limits of digital archives, and how we re-think and conceive what an archive can actually be.

AUGUST 1

10:30 AM - 12:00 PM (ET) AAP Focus Group Meeting

Xing Fan (Coordinator)