The Charger Blog
Faculty Members Honored for Scholarly Achievements, Impact on Students
Nominated by their students and colleagues, five professors have been recognized for their research, leadership, and dedication to students’ success.
Margaret F. Savilonis, Ph.D.
Coordinator, Theater
Coordinator, Interdisciplinary Studies, B.A.
Department of Music, Theater, and Dance
English Department
College of Arts and Sciences
Dr. Savilonis will be on sabbatical during the Spring 2024 semester.
Education
Ph.D., The University of Texas at Austin
Dissertation: ". . . give us the history we haven’t had, make us the women we can’t be": Motherhood
& History in
Plays by Caryl Churchill and Pam Gems, 1976-1984
M.F.A., The University of Georgia
B.A., Suffolk University, Boston, MA
About Margaret
Committed to interdisciplinary public scholarship, I design learning opportunities that align with the University's mission "to prepare our students to lead purposeful and fulfilling lives in a global society by providing the highest-quality education through experiential, collaborative, and discovery-based learning." With a focus on community-building, problem-solving, and public discourse, I approach the classroom as a space where students can engage in a variety of learning processes; discover strategies for employing writing as a tool to make critical thinking an active process; and develop the skills and the confidence to enthusiastically, publicly articulate their points of view.
Selected Publications
“Choreographing Diversity and the American Experience: Myra Kinch & Group, Federal Theatre Project, 1937-1939.” Experiments in Democracy: Inter-racial and Cross-cultural Exchange in American Theatre and Performance, 1900-1950. Eds. Cheryl Black and Jonathan Shandell. Southern Illinois UP, 2016. 147-171.
“She Was Always Sad: Remembering Mother in Caryl Churchill's Not Enough Oxygen and A Number.” Theatre History Studies 35 (2016): 233-254.
"Got to Get Over the Hump: The Politics of Glam in the Work of Labelle and Parliament." Taking it to the Bridge: Music as Performance. Eds. Nicholas Cook and Richard Pettengill. U of Michigan P, 2013. 155-179.
"Value, Voice, and Identity in Three Birds Alighting on a Field." International Dramaturgy: Translation and Transformation in the Theater of Timberlake Wertenbaker. Eds. Sara Freeman and Maya Roth. Peter Lang, 2008. 195-208.
"Utopia in absentia: Staging Possibilities in Kirk Lynn’s WAR." Drama and the Postmodern: Assessing the Limits of Metatheatre. Ed. Daniel K. Jernigan. Cambria, 2008. 327-349.
"Performing Arts: Performers." Encyclopedia of Women in World History. Eds. Bonnie G. Smith, et al. Oxford UP, 2008. 437-441.
Selected Conferences
"Danse Macabre: The Waltz as Utopian Performative in The Baltimore Waltz and Arcadia," "Literature and Dance: Interactions and Reactions" seminar, Northeast Modern Language
Association (NEMLA), Boston, MA, March 2013
"Choreographing Diversity and the American Experience: Myra Kinch & Group, Federal
Theatre Project, 1937-1939," "Experiments in Democracy: Performing an Interracial
and Multicultural America, 1900-1950" working group, American Society for Theatre
Research (ASTR), Nashville, TN, November 2012
"Metatheatrical Labor in Rude Mechanicals’ The Method Gun," "Spectacles of Labor" working group, American Society for Theater Research (ASTR), Montreal, Canada, November 2011
"She Was Always Sad: Remembering Mother in Caryl Churchill's Not Enough Oxygen and A Number," Symposium: Performing Motherhood in Modern and Contemporary Drama, Mount Allison University, Sackville, New Brunswick, Canada, October 2008.
"‘I Want You to Bring it up in the Conversation’: Value, Voice, and Identity in Three Birds Alighting on a Field," International Dramaturgy: Translations and Transformations, A Symposium on the Theater of Timberlake Wertenbaker, Georgetown University, March 2006
Service Highlights
Resident Dramaturg for University Theater 2011-present
Productions include:
Tom Stoppard's Arcadia, directed by Rachel Anderson-Rabern, Fall 2012
Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's Into the Woods, directed by Heather Reba, Spring 2013
Mary Zimmerman's The Secret in the Wings, directed by Rachel Anderson-Rabern, Fall 2013
Courses Taught
- ENGL 1105 Composition
- ENGL 1110 Composition & Literature
- ENGL 2212 Modern British Writers
- ENGL/THEA 3315 Production Dramaturgy
- THEA 3316 New Play Dramaturgy
- ENGL 3341 Shakespeare
- ENGL 3353 Romantic Era
- ENGL 4481 Comedy: Ancient Greek to Contemporary Drama
News and In the Media
University News
University of New Haven Theater Program Presents 'Mr. Burns, A Post-Electric Play'
A comedic thriller, 'Mr. Burns, a Post-Electric Play' explores the human response to catastrophe, as well as the role of storytelling and live performance in the forging of community, history, and survival. The curtain comes up April 24 to 27 at 7:30 p.m. in Bucknall Theater in Dodds Hall.