The American Theatre and Drama Society (ATDS) and the Disability in Theatre and
Performance focus group (DTaP) invite submissions of conference-length essays (8-10 pages)
from current graduate students or early-career scholars, particularly those who have yet to
present at a major conference. Accepted submissions will present at our emerging scholars joint
debut panel during the Association for Theatre in Higher Education (ATHE) Conference held in
Baltimore, MD from July 22nd-26th, 2026. Submissions are encouraged to align with the ATHE
2026 Conference theme, “ACTIVATING IMAGINATION IN/AND COMMUNITY,” and address
pressing questions including, but not limited to:

● How does performance practice (re)shape the overwhelmingly reductive paradigms and
social conceptions constraining (dis)abled embodiment and identity?

● How can performance reimagine disability apart from its culturally constructed
meanings?

● What is the role of theatre in shaping narratives of inclusion, exclusion, and social
legitimacy in contemporary and historical contexts?

DTaP aims to cultivate intersections between disability and theatre/performance studies. As
such, we are particularly interested in interdisciplinary submissions which explore the many
ways these two fields interact. DTaP further encourages submissions who intersectionally
engage with disability, chronic illness, D/deafness, neurodivergence, crip theory, and critical
race studies in the context of theatre, drama, and performance.

Selected scholars will share their papers at the ATHE conference. In addition to the opportunity
to present new research, this session intends to provide a space for generative feedback and to
facilitate ongoing dialogue that can support emerging scholars in their research and publication
goals beyond the conference. As part of this initiative, DTaP Graduate Student Representative
and Emerging Scholars panel organizer Ryan Nock will provide constructive feedback to DTaP
presenters prior to their conference presentation.

DTaP members and scholars interested in submitting should complete this google form. Essays
should be 8-10 pages double-spaced, in Chicago style, and uploaded in .docx or .pdf format by
May 17, 2026. Please remove your name from the main text of your essay. Presenters selected
for the Debut Panel will receive complimentary registration for the ATHE Conference. Eligibility
for complimentary registration is limited to those who have not previously presented at an ATHE
Conference.

Questions for DTaP should be directed to Ryan Nock at dtap.gradrep@gmail.com and rnock@umd.edu.