Collective residencies / Research based Theatre, Pedagogy, Diversity / Olot
NISHA L. SAJNANI
From Monday, 20 March 2023 to Monday, 27 March 2023
Bio
Prof. Nisha Sajnani is the director of the Program in Drama Therapy and Theatre & Health Lab, and founder of the Arts and Health initiative at New York University. She is also on faculty with NYU Abu Dhabi where she developed a trans-disciplinary course entitled Can Art Save Lives? which unites current evidence for the health benefits of the arts with practice and policy and at the NYU Stern School of Business where she teaches Improvisation and Leadership. In her capacity as Chair of the NYU Creative Arts Therapies Consortium, she leads a WHO commission to map the evidence for the physical, mental, and social health benefits of the arts and arts therapies and curated the first WHO panel on the role of the arts in sustaining human and planetary health. Prof. Sajnani is the principal editor of Drama Therapy Review. An award winning author, educator, and advocate, her body of work explores the unique ways in which aesthetic experience can inspire care, equity, and collective human flourishing across the lifespan.
Project
During my time at Faber, I will be writing about the health benefits of drama and performance as well as how improvisation and performance function as forms of inquiry and knowledge translation. I will also be completing a book on research methods for drama therapists.