Abigail Shabtay

Dr. Abigail Shabtay is an Associate Professor in the Children, Childhood, and Youth program at the Department of Humanities, York University. She holds cross-appointments in graduate programs in Theatre, Dance and Performance Studies, Education, Communication and Culture, Environmental Studies, and Humanities.

Education:

• PhD, McGill University
• MA, King's College London (UK)

Dr. Shabtay's research explores children's rights, social justice, youth activism, and drama-based participatory action research. Her work emphasizes child-centred methodologies and experiential pedagogies in theatre and youth performance studies.

Scientific Awards:

• LA&PS Dean's Award for Distinction in Research (2022-2023)
• Humanities Award for Teaching Excellence (2020-2021)
• York Student Accessibility Award (2020-2021)
• Ada Slaight Drama-in-Education Research Award (2018-2019)

Dr. Shabtay serves as Principal Investigator for SSHRC-funded projects and chairs the annual Children, Youth and Performance Conference. She actively supervises graduate students and has organized eight academic conferences in her field.