Matt Omasta

Author Website: www.mattomasta.com

Matt Omasta is Associate Dean of the Caine College of the Arts and Professor of Theatre Arts at Utah State University (USU), where he has taught since 2010. His work focuses on theatre and drama in applied, community-engaged, and educational contexts; theatre for young audiences; and audience / spectator studies. He is particularly interested in exploring how performance impacts human experience. His publications, which have been cited over 700 times, include:

• Play, Performance, and Identity (Routledge, 2015) with Drew Chappell

• Playwriting and Young Audiences (Intellect, 2017) with Nicole B. Adkins

• Qualitative Research: Analyzing Life (2nd edition, SAGE, 2021) with Johnny Saldaña

• Impacting Theatre Audiences: Methods for Studying Change (Routledge, 2022) with Dani Snyder-Young

Dr. Omasta was the inaugural recipient of the Johnny Saldaña Outstanding Professor of Theatre Education award from the American Alliance for Theatre and Education (AATE). Other honors include AATE’s Lin Wright Special Recognition Award and the Founders Award from the Educational Theatre Association. At USU, he has received the university-wide Eldon J. Gardner Teacher of the Year award as well as the Scholar / Creative Artist of the Year, Faculty Mentor of the Year, and Undergraduate Research Mentor of the Year awards from the Caine College of the Arts.

An active leader in theatre arts and education, Dr. Omasta has served three terms on the AATE Board of Directors, as an officer of two arts-focused special interest groups of the American Educational Research Association, and on the American Society for Theatre Research’s Executive Committee.