Why Theatre Education Matters: Broadway Education Alliance Hosts Virtual Author Event

The Broadway Education Alliance is pleased to present a virtual press event with Dr. Thalia Goldstein on September 19 at 3:00 PM (EST).

Goldstein’s newly published book, Why Theatre Education Matters is the first book-length work that examines the psychological foundations of theatre education and shows how thinking on stage happens in real secondary classrooms.

Based in the science of development and actual theatre education in a variety of settings and with a diversity of students, this book provides an answer to the question, “What habits of mind and skills are students gaining by taking theater classes?”

For answers, Goldstein and her team studied 40 classes across five locations from 2017-2020, filming 56 hours of actual classes as they happen in high schools. Using this data-driven approach, Goldstein then makes a case for the various ways in which theater education is tied to Habits of Mind and important cognitive, social, and emotional skills.

The virtual event is open to the public and will include a discussion moderated by award-winning journalist and podcaster Lauren Van Hemert, followed by a Q&A.

To register for the online press event, visit www.stagenotes.org. Dr. Goldstein’s book, Why Theatre Education Matters is available through Teachers College Press, www.tcpress.com.

About Dr. Thalia Goldstein

Thalia R. is currently an associate professor and director of the Applied Developmental Psychology program in the Department of Psychology at George Mason University, where she directs the Play, Learning, Arts and Youth Lab (PLAYlab), and codirects the National Endowment for the Arts Lab, the Mason Arts Research Center (MasonARC). Her work has been funded by the National Science Foundation, The John Templeton Foundation, Arts Connection, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the American Psychological Foundation among others. With her students and colleagues, she has published more than 70 papers on the effects of pretend play, imagination, theatre, and other art forms (dance, marching arts, video games, literature) on child and adolescent development. She earned her BA at Cornell University, her MA and PhD at Boston College, and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Yale University. Since 2017 she has been the coeditor of the journal Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, the Division 10 journal for the American Psychological Association, where she has also won several awards and was recently named fellow. 

About the Broadway Education Alliance

The Broadway Education Alliance (BEA) is a 501.c3 not-for-profit. The Broadway Education Alliance is dedicated to giving kids access – to information, people, and experiences that will help inform and inspire them in their formative years. With a focus on arts education and audience enrichment, the organization builds public and private partnerships between art makers and business or civic leaders to incubate programs and services that deliver long-term value to families, schools, and organizations.

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