Deakin graduate Dr Asher Johnson has been awarded the 2026 Distinguished Dissertation Award by the American Alliance for Theatre and Education for his PhD thesis entitled Teacher-As-Playwright: Performance Education Scriptwriting to Impact Students and Community.
The American Alliance for Theatre and Education (AATE) is one of the most recognised arts education organisations in the world, working to ensure that every young person experiences quality theatre arts in their lives provided by proficient, talented artists and educators. The Alliance serves more than a million students in 48 states in the USA and 19 countries worldwide.
This prestigious international award recognises outstanding doctoral research exploring educational theatre, applied theatre, or theatre for young audiences. Asher’s research connected all three of these areas in a thesis that was original, intellectually rigorous, education orientated and playful.
You can gain an insight into his thesis in his 1-minute Visualise Your Thesis (VYT) presentation made during his candidature, which won the people’s choice award.
Asher’s PhD project was supervised by Professor Joanne O’Mara and Associate Professor Jo Raphael who are both thrilled to see him honoured with this award.
“We are both long-term advocates of theatre education. We are proud of Asher for producing this work at a time when, maybe more than ever, we need brilliant scholarship to argue for the importance of theatre education, inspire us all and provide hope,” they said.
Asher was especially delighted to accept the award in person at the AATE Conference in New York City – two blocks from Broadway!
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