An educator who embraces research-informed teaching, promotes socially engaged global learning and cultivates an inclusive learning environment, Lisa Doolittle has been appointed a Board of Governors Teaching Chair.
Doolittle is a Theatre and Dramatic Arts faculty member who has been at the University of Lethbridge since 1989. She combines dance, theatre, community engagement and scholarship to create positive social action through university-community partnerships.
Her research focuses on Canadian multicultural and indigenous dance, and she is currently heading the Teaching and Learning sector in a national partnership that is exploring how art can positively impact society.
Doolittle expands learning outside the classroom through initiatives such as the biannual student trip she co-leads to Malawi to develop theatre-based and student-delivered malaria and HIV/AIDS prevention programs in rural schools. She also brings the community into the classroom and onto the stage through arts-based, university-community collaborations with local Blackfoot students, refugees, immigrants and people with developmental disabilities.
She has volunteered extensively for the University, for example, by chairing the Faculty Association’s Academic Welfare Committee, serving on committees such as the University’s Inclusive Education Working Group, University Budget and Teaching Development, and facilitating workshops with the Teaching Centre.
Doolittle has published several book chapters, journal and media articles, delivered many conference and community presentations, and volunteers for scholarly arts organizations. Outside of academia, she has worked as a choreographer, director and writer on numerous productions in Alberta and internationally.
Her appointment as a Board of Governors Teaching Chair is for a two-year term commencing July 1, 2015.
