Initiatives

The Jonathan Levy Child Drama Symposium: Ethics and the Representation of Childhood in Performance, Pedagogy and Popular Culture

Keynote Speaker Biographies

The Jonathan Levy Child Drama Symposium: Ethics and the Representation of Childhood in Performance, Pedagogy and Popular Culture Keynote Speaker Biographies

JACK ZIPES is professor emeritus at the University of Minnesota, where he taught courses on critical theory of the Frankfurt School, folklore and fairy tales, theatre, film, children\'s literature and German literature of the 20th century. He currently is writing a book on fairy-tale films. In addition to his scholarly work on children\'s literature, he is an award-winning storyteller in public schools and has worked with various childrens\' theatres in North America and Europe.

TOM HORNE was elected Arizona State Superintendent of Public Instruction in 2002, and was re-elected to a second four-year term in 2006. Horne served in the Arizona legislature from 1996-2000, during which time he chaired the academic accountability committee and served as vice-chair of the education committee. Horne brings 24 years\' of school-board experience as a member of the board of the third largest district in the state. He held the position of board president for 10 years. He has written more than 30 published articles on education issues, including subjects such as raising academic standards, character education and student discipline.

ANNE HAMBURGER is an independent theatrical producer and former Executive Vice-President of Disney Creative Entertainment. During her tenure with Disney, she oversaw the production of new musicals including Aladdin, Snow White and Finding Nemo. Prior to her time with Disney, Hamburger founded the off-Broadway company, En Garde Arts and served as artistic director of the La Jolla Playhouse in California.

JONATHAN LEVY is an award-winning playwright, Distinguished Teaching Professor at SUNY Stony Brook and Visiting Scholar at the Harvard University Graduate School of Education. He has numerous publications in the fields of: theatre for youth history, criticism and theory; playwriting; arts assessment; and aesthetics. Levy has written over 40 theatrical pieces. These include: full-length and one-act plays; monologues; a commedia; concert pieces for symphony orchestra and actors; an adaptation of an operetta; an opera; and a cantata for tenor, tape and chamber orchestra. His plays have been produced: in New York City Off-Broadway by groups, such as The Impossible Ragtime Theatre, the Manhattan Theatre Club, the HB Studio and the New York Stageworks; in Los Angeles by the Theatre East; and in Westport, Connecticut by the Theatre Artists Workshop.