Keenan Shionalyn

• BS in Psychology, Southern Utah University
• MSFS in Forensic Psychology, Southern Utah University
• MA in Theatre Arts, Central Washington University

Keenan earned his MA in Theatre Studies from Central Washington University, an MS in Forensic Psychology from Southern Utah University, and a BS in Psychology with a minor in Theatre Arts, also from Southern Utah University. He has taught theatre at the secondary and university levels. Currently, he teaches Humanities at Austin Community College in Austin, Texas.

My research examines the theatre and unstaged dramas of queer theatre artists during the modernist movement in Eastern Europe and Russia, physical theatre, and commedia dell'arte. My current work focuses on Mikhail Kuzmin, a playwright from St. Petersburg, writing at the beginning of the 20th century, whose works often center gay male characters. Paired with archival documents, I utilize a form of archival drag to stage contemporary performances of his dramas, creating a bridge between the early twentieth century and today. Through practice research and traditional archival practices, I hope to bring Kuzmin's oeuvre to light and reexamine our understanding of gender and sexuality in Russia during that time.

• Queer Archival Praxis:Histories and Methodologies (Association for Theatre in Higher Education 2023) 
• Rediscovering Queer Theatre and Creating Utopia: Embodied Ensemble Translation and Creative Historiography of Mikhail Kuzmin's Three Plays (Association for Theatre in Higher Education 2022)
• Subversion and Reification of Mixed Race and Queer Tropes: The Triumphs and Downfalls of Lovecraft Country (Southwest Popular/American Culture Association, 2021)