Margaret F. Savilonis, Ph.D.

Education

Ph.D., The University of Texas at Austin
Dissertation:  ". . . give us the history we haven’t had, make us the women we can’t be":  Motherhood & History in
Plays by Caryl Churchill and Pam Gems, 1976-1984  

M.F.A., The University of Georgia

B.A., Suffolk University, Boston, MA

About Margaret

I am committed to cross-disciplinary work, believing that disciplines such as history, literature, and theater are not discrete units, but fields that inform one another and work together to both produce and reproduce culture. I believe this passion helps me design courses and learning opportunities that realize the University’s mission "to prepare our students to lead purposeful and fulfilling lives in a global society by providing the highest-quality education through experiential, collaborative and discovery-based learning." This philosophy informs both my approach to teaching, in courses such as Production Dramaturgy, and my scholarship, in essays such as "Metatheatrical Labor in Rude Mechanicals’ The Method Gun," which I presented at the American Society for theater Research's annual conference in 2011. I am particularly invested in helping students engage in the learning process and hope that they can develop personal strategies that allow them to recognize the value of writing as a way to make critical thinking an active, physical process and enable them to develop the skills and the confidence to enthusiastically, publicly articulate their points of view. 

Selected Publications

"Got to Get Over the Hump: The Politics of Glam in the Work of Labelle and Parliament." Taking it to the Bridge: Music as Performance. Eds. Nicholas Cook and Richard Pettengill. U of Michigan P, 2013. 155-179.

"Value, Voice, and Identity in Three Birds Alighting on a Field." International Dramaturgy: Translation and Transformation in the Theater of Timberlake Wertenbaker. Eds. Sara Freeman and Maya Roth. Peter Lang, 2008. 195-208.