Keenan Shionalyn – Assistant Adjunct Professor, Humanities

Biography:

Keenan Shionalyn is a scholar of modernist queer theatre history in East Central Europe, currently pursuing his doctorate in Drama and Theatre Studies at the University of Birmingham, UK. His dissertation examines the dramatic works of St. Petersburg artist Mikhail Kuzmin. His work is interdisciplinary, incorporating Arts and Humanities areas such as Theatre History, Gender and Sexuality, Russian, Translation, and Practice-Based-Research. Keenan received his M.A. in Theatre Studies from Central Washington University and a M.S.F.S. in Forensic Psychology from Southern Utah University. His work has been presented at the Association for Theatre in Higher Education and the Southwest Popular/American Culture Association. Keenan continues to pursue research and publication in the arts and humanities. Keenan is the artistic co-director of Balagan Pigeon Theatre, dedicated to exploring underrepresented works excluded or forgotten by the canon.

Teaching Philosophy:

 

My approach is to provide a space where students develop their insight into culture, arts, and humanities. In each course I teach, I incorporate moments of discussion and reflection in which learning becomes collaborative and personal. Rather than simply presenting material, I ask student to engage critically with the works we study, discuss with their peers, and come to their own informed viewpoints. The Arts and Humanities include a large collection of rich material, allowing us to develop our own sense of culture in a shared space. By reflecting and learning together, we can draw upon the lessons of the past and present and adapt those ideas to create a hopeful future.

Areas of Interest:

General Humanities

Theatre History

Gender and Sexuality Studies

Modernist Studies

Translation Studies

East Central European and Russian Art and History

Research and Practice-Based-Learning

Courses Taught at ACC:

HUMA-1301: Introduction to Humanities Prehistory to Renaissance

HUMA-1302: Introduction to Humanities Renaissance to Present

HUMA-1301: The Great Questions Seminar