Dr Michelle Piasecka
Associate Professor
Biography
Dr Shelley Piasecka is Associate Professor of Theatre and Applied Drama in the Division of Communication, Screen and Performance in the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences. Shelley is programme leader for the MRes in Arts and Media and a Senior Postgraduate Research Tutor. She is also Deputy Chair of the Research Ethics Committee for the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences and Deputy Chair of the Postgraduate Research Programmes Sub-Committee. Shelley supports her teaching and research with practice and has a special interest in stage adaptation and writing for theatre.
Teaching and Supervision
Shelley teaches on undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in the areas of theatre direction, stage adaptation, performance analysis, creative pedagogy and acting technique. Shelley is an experienced postgraduate research tutor. She supervises doctoral students in the areas of stage adaptation, professional wrestling and applied drama and creative pedagogy. She is an experienced doctoral examiner and viva chair.
Research and Knowledge Exchange
Shelley’s publications and performance research outputs are connected in meaningful ways. First, she is interested in the intersections between theatre, government policy, and applied drama in educational settings, with a recent critical focus on Prevent and UK counter-terrorism strategies. Her work was instrumental in the convening of an expert conference on youth radicalisation and terrorism at the European Parliament, Brussels. Shelley's new research explores the use of applied drama to educate on sustainability issues in Higher Education. Secondly, Shelley is a practicing theatre director and writer. Her stage adaptation of Moby Dick was selected for discussion by the Melville Society and Kings College for an event at the British Library exploring British artistic responses to Melville’s work and legacy. She is currently working theatre projects in response to the climate emergency.