Abigail Shabtay

Dr. Abigail Shabtay is an Assistant Professor in the Children, Childhood, and Youth program in the Department of Humanities. She is also appointed to the graduate programs in Theatre and Performance Studies, Communication and Culture, Humanities, and Education. Dr. Shabtay has received awards for excellence in teaching and research in her field, including the Humanities Departmental Teaching Award (2020-2021), the York Student Accessibility Award (2020-2021), the Ada Slaight Drama in Education Award (2018-2019), the Jackie Kirk Fieldwork Award (2018-2019), and the DISE Outstanding Teaching Award (2018). Dr. Shabtay’s research focuses on children’s rights, child-centred research methodologies, theatre with children and youth, youth activism, social justice, digital performance, and drama-based participatory action research. She is currently the Principal Investigator for four SSHRC-funded projects related to children, youth, and the performing arts. She has served on organizing committees for seven academic conferences in her field and is the primary organizer and conference chair of the annual Children, Youth and Performance Conference in Toronto.