Dr. Cecilia Josephine Arag贸n
Department of Theatre and Dance
Professor, Theatre for Young Audiences - Theatre Education - Multicultural Theatre
Ph.D. Arizona State University
M.F.A. University of New Mexico
B.S. McMurry University
Cecilia Josephine Arag贸n has a joint appointment between Theatre and Dance and Latina/o Studies. She serves as the coordinator for Theatre Education and Theatre for Young Audiences (TYA). Arag贸n serves as past-president of Women and Theatre Program of ATHE. She was recently appointed to the National Endowment for the Arts national review grants board for Theatre and Musical Theatre.
Arag贸n鈥檚 teaching areas include Introduction to Theatre, Beginning Acting, World Drama, Multicultural Theatre, Dramatic Literature and Criticism, Performance Theory, Theatre for Social Change, and Community Engagement Theatre. In addition, she teaches TYA, Children's Theatre, Reader's Theatre, Creative Drama in the Classroom, and Teaching Theatre Artists. Arag贸n also works with the University of Hawaii-Manoa in a student program initiative鈥攖aking theatre students to Hawaii each year to learn about intercultural performances and cultural diplomacy.
Arag贸n has significant experience as an actor and director. Her directing credits include, but are not limited to: Where the Wild Things Are, Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse, Alicia in Wonder Tierra, 叠辞肠贸苍, Beauty and the Beast, Jungalbook, Wiley and the Hairy Man, and the newly devised plays, Evo-Cete: The Big Blue Journey, The Prince of Whales: Evolution of Whales in Four Stages, Naked Words Hip-Hop Revolution鈥擜 Youth Festival, and Wyoming Ice Age: Survival of the Mammoth, Vagina Monologues, and Standing on Ceremony: The Gay Marriage Plays. Her directing credits also include Rudolfo Anaya鈥檚 plays, Billy the Kid, Matachines, Ay, Compadre!, Angie, Farolitos of Christmas, and The Season of La Llorona.
Arag贸n鈥檚 scholarly articles and research areas include Latina/o Theatre, Indo-Hispano Folk Drama, Indigenous Performances, and Community-engaged Theatre. Arag贸n has published three articles on Anaya鈥檚 plays titled, 鈥淏illy the Kid/El Bilito鈥� (ABC-CLIO, 2012); 鈥淟os Corridos de Billy the Kid-El Querido, 'El Bilito': Contemporary Ballads and Songs About Billy the Kid From New Mexicans鈥擱udolfo Anaya and Sim贸n 脕lvarez鈥� (Camino Real鈥擡studios de las Hispanidades Norteamericanas, 2011); and 鈥淧olitics and Performance: Repression and Resistance in Lee Blessing's Billy the Kid and Rudolfo Anaya's Billy the Kid鈥� (The Western States Theatre Review, 2011). Arag贸n was invited to collaborate and serve as co-editor of the book, Rudolfo Anaya: Billy the Kid and Other Plays, (Chicana and Chicano Visions of the Americas Series; University of Oklahoma Press, 2011).
Arag贸n鈥檚 scholarly work on TYA articles include, 鈥淟atina/o Theatre for Young Audiences鈥� (ABC-CLIO, 2013); 鈥淪ocial Protest as Social Performance: Examining Oppositional Performances with Latina/o Youth鈥� (Northwest Theatre Review, 2009); 鈥淣i帽os y el teatro: Critical Perspectives of Children in Mexican-American Theatre鈥� (Youth Theatre Journal, 2009); 鈥淐rossing Borders: The Coming of Age Experience in Josefina L贸pez's Simply Maria and Jos茅 Cruz Gonz谩lez's The Highest Heaven鈥� (Youth Theatre Journal, 2002); 鈥淢estiza Consciousness: An Examination of Two Plays with Chicana Protagonists鈥� (Youth Theatre Journal, 2001); and 鈥淭eacher and Student Resource Guide鈥� in Children of the Sun: Monologues and Scenes for Latina/o Youth, by Carlos Morton (Studio City, 2008).
