Nisha L. Sajnani, Ph.D., RDT-BCT [email protected]

EDUCATION

Ph.D. 2010. Interdisciplinary Studies. Dissertation: Permeable Boundaries: Towards a Critical, Collaborative, Performance Pedagogy, Concordia University, Montreal

M.A. 2002. Drama Therapy. Thesis: The Embodied Mandala Method as an Assessment Tool in Drama Therapy, Concordia University, Montreal

B.A. 1999. Double Major in Theatre and , Concordia University, Edmonton

PROFESSIONAL PROFILE

Director, Drama Therapy Program, New York University 2017-Present Director, Global Interdisciplinary Program, Lesley University 2016-2017 Associate Professor/Coordinator, Clinical Counseling: 2012-2017 Drama Therapy Program & Faculty, PhD Program, Lesley University Adjunct Faculty, Arts Based Research, Drama Therapy Program, New York University 2011-2017

Lecturer, Global Mental Health: Trauma and Recovery Program, Harvard Medical School 2013-Present

Lecturer, Columbia Center for Oral History Summer Program, Columbia University 2012 Lecturer, Theater Studies and Humanities, Yale University 2010

Director, Drama Therapy and Community Health, Post-Traumatic Stress Center, New Haven 2007-2012 Lecturer, Drama Therapy and Social Change, Concordia University 2005 Curriculum Design and Facilitation, Amplify: Transformative Pedagogy 2002-2016 Girls Action Foundation, Montreal

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RESEARCH PROFILE

Co-researcher: Impact of Covid-19 in the Creative Arts Therapies 2020 Principal Investigators: Rinat Feniger-Schaal and Shoshi Keisari

Principal Investigator: Impact of musical theatre on older adults on cognition 2019 and sense of community.

Principal Investigator: The experience of creative arts therapists of color participating in a devised performance. Steinhardt Diversity Grant ($5000) 2018

Principal Investigator: The role of therapeutic theatre in the prevention of opioid use. Partnership with COAAST funded through Center for Disease 2018 Control (CDC) and Rhode Island Department of Public Health ($106,000)

Principal Investigator: Hold Tightly Gently: The impact of theatre making 2016 with people diagnosed with HIV.

Principal Investigator: A qualitative analysis of student demands for racial 2016 justice across college campuses in the US and Canada

Principal Investigator: Photographic inquiry into the experience of care 2016 providers working with refugees in resettlement

Principal Investigator: Drama therapists attitudes and actions regarding 2015 LGBTQ and gender non-conforming (GNC) communities.

Co-Researcher: Oral History and Performance Working Group 2007-2012 Life Stories of Montrealers Displaced by Genocide, War, and Human Rights Violations, Principal Investigator: Dr. Steven High

Co-researcher: Institute for the Advanced Study of Culture, Conflict, and the Arts Therapies (IASCCAT), Concordia University. 2007-2010 Principal Investigator: Dr. Stephen Snow •

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AWARDS AND GRANTS

Senior Fellow, Minnesota Institute for Trauma Informed Education Faculty Fellow, Aging Incubator, New York University Research Fellow, Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, UK NYU-Paris Sciences Lettres (PSL) Global Alliance Collaboration Grant ($10,000) Affinity Group Grant, Creative Arts Therapies and Arts in Health, NYU Steinhardt ($5000) Diversity Innovation Grant, NYU Steinhardt ($3000) Gertrud Schattner Award, North American Drama Therapy Association Diversity Award, American Society for Group Psychotherapy and Corann Okorodudu Global Women’s Advocacy Award, American Psychological Association (Div. 35) Research Award, North American Drama Therapy Association Fellowship, Institute for the Arts & Health, Lesley University Fellowship, Global Education Center, Lesley University Raymond Jacobs Memorial Diversity Award, North American Drama Therapy Association Faculty Scholarship Award, Graduate School of Arts and Social Sciences, Lesley University Faculty Scholarship Award, Graduate School of Arts and Social Sciences, Lesley University Dissertation Award, Drama Therapy Fund Outstanding Alumni Award, Concordia University College Concordia Research Fellowship Canada Council for the Arts: Off the Radar Grant Brian T. Brian T. Counihan Award for Scholarship and Leadership Outstanding Contribution to the Arts and Student Leadership, Concordia University College

PUBLICATIONS

Books

Sajnani, N, Mayor, C., Armstrong, C. (under contract, 2023). An introductory guide to research methods for drama therapists. Intellect.

Sajnani, N., & Johnson, D.R. (Eds.) (2014, 2nd Edition under contract 2022). Trauma-informed drama therapy: Transforming clinics, classrooms, and communities. Charles C. Thomas.

Dokter, D., & Sajnani, N. (under contract, 2022) Intercultural dramatherapy: Imaginings at the intersections of otherness. Routledge.

Sajnani, N., Muhungi, W.M., Yee, J., Mercer, K., Butler, K., Jones, L., Neira, N.L., J, Matining, M. (2012). Decolonizing “social justice” work: Stories to support organizations, facilitators, and youth working against oppression. Girls Action Foundation. Nisha Sajnani Page 4

Peer-Reviewed Articles

De Witte, M., Orkibi, H., Zarate, R., Karkou, V., Sajnani, N., Malhotra, B., Ho, R., Kaimal, G., Baker, F., & Koch, S.,(forthcoming), From therapeutic factors to mechanisms of change in the creative arts therapies: A scoping review.

Sajnani, N. & Ansloos, J. (forthcoming). Organizing for racial justice in higher education: A qualitative analysis of 81 lists of demands across college campuses.

Sajnani, N., (forthcoming). The benefits of musical theatre with older adults.

Sajnani, N., Mayor, C., & Tillberg-Webb, H. (2020). Aesthetic presence: The role of the arts in the education of creative arts therapists in the classroom and online. Arts in Psychotherapy, 69, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aip.2020.101668

Sajnani, N., Mayor, C., Burch, D., Davis, C., Feldman, D., Kelly, J., Landis, H., McAdam, E. (2019). Collaborative discourse analysis on the use of drama therapy to treat trauma in schools. Drama Therapy Review, 5 (1). 27- 47.

• Dunphy, K., Baker, F., Dumaresq, E., Carroll-Haskins, K., Eikholt, J., Ercole, M., Kaimal, G., Meyer, K., Sajnani, • N., Shamir, O., Wosch, T (2019). Creative arts interventions to address depression in older adults: a • systematic review of outcomes, processes and mechanisms. Frontiers in Psychology, • doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02655

Sajnani, N. & Gopalakrishna, M. (2017). Rasa: Exploring the influence of Indian performance theory and technique in drama therapy, Drama Therapy Review, 3:2, 225-239.

Sajnani, N., Marxen, E., Zarate, B. (2017). Critical perspectives in the arts therapies: Response/ability across a continuum of practice. The Arts in Psychotherapy. 54. 28-37.

Beauregard, M., Stone, R., Trytan, N., Sajnani, N. (2016). Drama therapists attitudes and actions regarding LGBTQ and gender non-conforming (GNC) communities. Drama Therapy Review. 2 (1), 16-24.

Sajnani, N. & Johnson, D.R. (2016). Opening up Playback Theatre: Perspectives from Developmental Transformations and the Theatre of the Oppressed. A Chest of Broken Toys: Journal of Developmental Transformations,1, 94 -126.

Sajnani, N., Tomczyk, P., Bleuer, J., Dokter, D., Carr, M., Bilodeau, S. (2016). Guidelines on cultural response/ability in training, research, practice, supervision, advocacy and organizational change. Drama Therapy Review, 2:1, 139-146.

Hodermarska, M., Landy, R., Dintino, C., Mowers, D., & Sajnani, N. (2015). As performance: Ethical and aesthetic considerations for therapeutic theater. Drama Therapy Review, 1 (2), 173-186.

Johnson, D.R. & Sajnani, N. (2015). Developmental transformations and social justice. A Chest of Broken Toys: Journal of Developmental Transformations, 1, 58-70.

Pitre, R., Sajnani, N., & Johnson, D. (2014). Trauma-centered Developmental Transformations as exposure treatment for young children, Drama Therapy Review, 1 (1), 41-54.

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Sajnani, N. (2013). The body politic: The relevance of an intersectional framework for therapeutic performance research in drama therapy, The Arts in Psychotherapy, 40 (3), 382-385.

Sajnani, N. (2012). Response/ability: Imagining a critical race feminist paradigm for the creative arts therapies. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 39 (3), 186-191.

Sajnani, N. (2012). Improvisation and art-based research. Journal of Applied Arts and Health, 3 (1), 79-87.

Sajnani, N. (2012). The implicated witness: Towards a relational aesthetic in dramatherapy. Dramatherapy: The Journal of the British Association of Dramatherapists, 34 (1), 6-21.

Sajnani, N. (2011). Coming into presence: Discovering the ethics and aesthetics of performing oral histories in the Montreal life stories project. Alt. Theatre: Cultural Diversity and the Stage, 9 (1), 40-49.

Sajnani, N. (2011). The bridge: Towards relational aesthetic inquiry in the Montreal life stories project. Canadian Theatre Review, 148 (1), 18-24.

Sajnani, N., & Mendell, M. (2007). La recherche partenariale : le cas de l’ARUC en economie sociale. Organisations et Territories: Reflexion sur la Gestion, Innovation, et le Développment, 16 (1), 20-29.

Sajnani, N., & Nadeau, D. (2006). Creating safer spaces for immigrant women of color: Performing the politics of possibility. Canadian Woman Studies Journal/Les cahiers de la femme, 25 (1-2), 45-53.

Sajnani, N. (2004). Strategic narratives: The embodiment of minority discourse in biographical performance. Canadian Theatre Review, 117, 33-37.

Sajnani, N. (2003). The body politic: Four conversations on gender and the nation. Graduate Researcher: Interdisciplinary Journal, 1(1), 9-18.

Chapters

Sajnani, N. (forthcoming). The use of rasaboxes in the training of therapists. In M. Minnick & P. Cole, (Eds.) Rasaboxes.

Sajnani, N; Mayor, C; Boal, J. (2020) Theatre of the Oppressed. In D.R Johnson and R. Emunah (Eds), Current approaches in drama therapy (3rd edition), Charles C. Thomas.

Johnson, D.R., Sajnani, N., Mayor, C., Davis, C. (2020). The Miss Kendra Program: Addressing toxic stress in the school setting. In D.R Johnson and R. Emunah (Eds), Current approaches in drama therapy (3rd edition), Charles C. Thomas.

Sajnani, N., Beardall, N., Chapin Stephenson, R., Estrella, K., Zarate, R., Socha, D. Butler, J. (2019). Navigating the transition to online education in the arts therapies. In R. Houghham, S. Pitruzella, and S. Scoble (Eds.) Traditions in transition in the arts therapies. University of Plymouth Press.

Sajnani, N., Salvatore, J., Sallis, R. (2019). Three arts based researchers walk into a forum: A conversation on the opportunities and challenges in embodied and performed research. In P. Duffy, C. Hatton and R. Sallis (Eds.) Drama research methods, provocations of practice. Rotterdam, The Netherlands: Sense.

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Sajnani, N. (2018) On beauty and the obligation to care. In R. Mollica & M. Agosin, A Manifesto: Healing a violent world. London, UK: Solis Press.

Sajnani, N. Cho, A., Landis, H., Raucher, G., Trytan, N. (2018) Collaborative discourse analysis on the use of drama therapy to treat depression in adults. In A. Zubala & V. Karkou & A. Arts therapies in the treatment of depression. London, UK: Routledge.

Sajnani, N. & Dokter, D. (2017). An experiential framework and approach to teaching cultural response/ability. In R. Houghham, S. Pitruzella, and S. Scoble (Eds.) Cultural landscapes in the arts therapies. UK: University of Plymouth Press.

Sajnani, N. (2017). Relational aesthetics in the performance of personal story. In S. Pendzik, R. Emunah, and D. R. Johnson (Eds.), Autobiographical, self-revelatory, and auto-ethnographic forms of therapeutic theatre. London: Palgrave MacMillan.

Sajnani, N. (2016). On being home. In M. Agosin (Ed.) Home: An imagined landscape. Tunbridge, UK: Solis.

Sajnani, N. (2016). Toward a critical aesthetic paradigm in drama therapy. In C. Holmwood and S. Jennings (Eds.). International handbook of dramatherapy. London: Routledge.

Sajnani, N., (2015). Action-in-reflection: An argument for arts-based practice as research in drama therapy. In R.Houghham, S. Pitruzella, and S. Scoble (Eds.) Dimensions of reflection in the arts therapies. EU: European Consortium of Creative Arts Therapies Educators.

Sajnani, N., Linds, W., Wong, A., Ndejuru, L., Lu, L., Gareau, P., and Ward, D. (2015). The Living Histories Ensemble: Sharing authority through play, storytelling, and performance in the aftermath of violence. In D. Conrad and A. Sinner (eds.), Creating together: Participatory, community-based and collaborative arts practices and scholarship across Canada. Waterloo, ON: Wilfred Laurier University

Fraser, T., Sajnani, N., Louw, A., Austin, S. (2015). Reflecting on systems of change through the politics of place. In Claudia Mitchell and Carrie Rentschler (Eds.) Girlhood Studies and the politics of place: New paradigms of research. New York: Berghahn Books

Johnson, D.R. & Sajnani, N. (2014). The role of drama therapy in trauma treatment. In N. Sajnani and D.R. Johnson (Eds.) Trauma informed drama therapy: Transforming clinics, classrooms, and communities. Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas.

Sajnani, N. & Johnson, D.R. (2014). The state of the art of trauma informed drama therapy. In N. Sajnani and D.R. Johnson (Eds.) Trauma informed drama therapy: Transforming clinics, classrooms, and communities. Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas.

Sajnani, N., Jewers-Dailley, K., Brillante, A., Puglisi, J., Johnson, D.R. (2014). Animating learning by integrating and validating experience. In N. Sajnani and D.R. Johnson (Eds.) Trauma informed drama therapy: Transforming clinics, classrooms, and communities. Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas.

Sajnani, N., Wong, A., Ndejuru, L., & Linds, W. (2013). Turning together: Playback theatre, oral history, and arts-based research in the Montreal life stories project. In E. Little, R. Duong, & S. High (Eds.), Remembering war, genocide and other human rights violations: New media and the arts. Toronto, ON: University of Toronto.

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Sajnani, N. (2011). Playback theatre and social change: What’s at stake relative to diversity and anti-oppression. In Neumark, D., and Chagnon, J., Affirming collaboration: Community and humanist activist art in Québec and elsewhere (pp.123-129). Montreal, QC: Levier

Sajnani, N. (2010). Mind the gap: Facilitating transformative witnessing amongst audiences. In Jones, P., Drama as therapy: Clinical work and research into practice (pp. 189-207). London, UK: Routledge

Sajnani, N. (2009). Theatre of the oppressed: Drama therapy as cultural dialogue. In Johnson, D.R, & Emunah, R., Current approaches in drama therapy (pp.461-482). Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas

Editorials and Commentaries

Sajnani, N. (2020). Contagious change. Drama Therapy Review, 6 (2), 117-120. Sajnani, N. (2020). A drama therapist’s perspective on teaching theatre in times of crisis. Howlround Theatre .. Commons. Retrieved from https://howlround.com/drama-therapists-perspective-teaching-theatre-times- crisis

Sajnani, N. (2020). Digital interventions in drama therapy offer a virtual playspace but also raise concern, Drama Therapy Review, 6 (1), 3-6.

Sajnani, N. (2019). The critical turn towards evidence in drama therapy. Drama Therapy Review, 5 (2), 169- 171. Sajnani, N. (2019) Make art (not) after war: The creative arts therapies in the treatment of trauma, Arts in Psychotherapy. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aip.2019.05.003

Sajnani, N. (2018). How to do things with words (and bodies) in drama therapy. Drama Therapy Review, 4 (2), 149-151.

Sajnani, N. (2017). Advancing theory and technique in drama therapy. Drama Therapy Review, 3 (2), 161-163.

Sajnani, N. (2017). Home and its double: A festschrift in honor of Robert J. Landy. Drama Therapy Review, 3 (1), 3-6.

Sajnani, N. (March 2, 2017). We must redouble efforts to care for refugees amid uncertainty. Boston University School of Public Health. Retrieved from http://www.bu.edu/sph/2017/03/02/we-must- redouble-efforts-to- care-for-refugees-amid-uncertainty/

Sajnani, N. (2016). Arts therapies and the refugee crisis. University ofMelbourne & Victorian College ofthe Arts. Arts. Retrieved from http://vca.unimelb.edu.au/research/creative-arts-therapies-research-unit/arts- therapies-and-the-refugee-crisis

Sajnani, N. (2016). How acting as-if makes a dramatic difference, Drama Therapy Review, 2 (2), 3-5.

Sajnani, N. (2016). Borderlands: Diversity and coexistence in drama therapy, Drama Therapy Review, 2 (1), 3- 6.

Sajnani, N. (2015). On the presence of thoughtful action in drama therapy, Drama Therapy Review, 1 (2), 111- 114.

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Sajnani, N. (2014). Towards an open conversation in drama therapy, Drama Therapy Review, 1 (1), 3-6.

Sajnani, N. & Kaplan, F. (2012). Creative arts therapies and social justice. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 39 (3), 165-167.

ARTISTIC SCHOLARSHIP

Producer: Collideoscope Repertory Theatre: Radical Love. Online performance. NYU Theatre & Health Lab, March 12-14, 2021.

Producer: Collideoscope Repertory Theatre: Free Play by Idris Goodwin. Online performance. NYU Theatre & Health Lab, October 12-14, 2020.

Creator/Producer: Drama therapists @ Home. Online performance. NYU Theatre & Health Lab, May 1- 3, 2020.

Series Creator/ Producer: Drama therapy as performance. Five documentations of drama therapy practice. NYU Theatre & Health Lab. Feb 2020

Producer: Golde and Tevye: A short film about older adults performing Fiddler on the Roof Sr. NYU Theatre & Health Lab/ NOVO Film. Feb 2019

Curator: Assemblage: Identity, Memory, and Displacement. Online curated series for Europe Now. Council of European Studies, Columbia University. February 1-28, 2017.

Curator: Mapping Home: A Global Crisis of Place Photography exhibit on the relationship between climate change and the refugee crisis, co-curated with photographer Oscar Palacio. Washburn Gallery, Cambridge, MA, June 16-Sept.30, 2016.

Director: Racism in Higher Education Playback theatre on student, staff, and faculty experiences of racism in higher education, Lesley University, Cambridge, MA, April 5, 2016.

Director: Raw Materials: Four monologues on the experience of women in transition. Verbatim theatre and digital projection. Marran Theatre, Cambridge, MA, March 30, 2016

Collaborator: Homo Elitus Immersive installation about race, gender, and wealth with David R. Johnson and Truc Nguyen. White Plains, NY, October 30, 2015.

Director: Lives That Matter: Voices on Difference, Power, and Co-existence in America: An ethnodrama examining the tension between All Lives Matter and Black Lives Matter. A collaboration with volunteer members of the Boston/Cambridge community, Marran Theatre, Cambridge, MA, March 16, 2015.

Artist in Residence: Berkshires Conference on Women. Playback theatre. Ontario Art Gallery, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. May 30, 2014

Director: Under Pressure: Meditations on the Boston Marathon Bombing Community Choreopoem involving verbatim theatre, modern dance, and digital projection. A collaboration with volunteer members of the Boston/Cambridge community Marran Theatre, Cambridge, MA, April 13, 2014.

Director: Mama Always Said Don’t Play with Fire: Race as Performance Ethnodrama, Black Box Theatre, Pless Hall, New York University, January 27, 2014.

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Director/Actor: Beyond Testimony and Trauma Playback theatre presentation on lessons learned in translating oral histories of survivors of genocide into performance, Concordia Theatre, Montreal, March 22-25, 2012.

Director/Actor: Itorero Playback theatre on Rwandan youth living in Canada post genocide, Ottawa, Canada, June 15, 2011.

Director/Actor: Cambodia: Then and Now Playback theatre with Cambodian communities investigating the intergenerational aftermath ofsurviving the Khmer Rouge, Montreal, May 5-7, 2011.

Director/Actor: AGIR Playback theatre on persecution as a result of one’s sexual orientation and gender identity, Articule Gallery, Montreal, March 27, 2011.

Director/ Actor: Playback theatre on the experience of child survivors turned educators about the Holocaust, Montreal Holocaust Memorial Center, October 17, 2010.

Director/Actor: Haiti Playback theatre on responses to Haiti post-earthquake, Concordia, 2010 Montreal, February 7, 2010.

Director: Remembering Mass Violence: Oral History, New Media, Performance. Playback theatre on the experience of listening to stories of mass violence, Concordia, Montreal, Nov. 5-8, 2009.

Collaborator: Rights Here! Street theatre on water rights and urban borders, Bangalore, India and Montreal, Canada

Collaborator: Its’ a Wonderful World Ethnodrama with adults living with developmental disabilities, Center for the Arts in Human Development, Concordia Theatre, Montreal, 2007.

Director: One Day in Her Life Forum Theatre on violence against immigrant and refugee women of color, South Asian Womens’ Community Center, 2003-2007.

Director: Three Acts Forum theatre on immigration, healthcare, and the rights of mothers in Montreal, Creative Alternatives, Montreal, 2004.

Director: Body Politic: Four Conversations on Gender and the Nation Verbatim theatre, R/Evolution Humanities Conference, Concordia Theatre, Montreal, March 22-24, 2002.

PRESENTATIONS

Feniger-Schaal, R., Orkibi, H., Sajnani, N.,Czamanski-Cohen, J., Geller, J., Mendlovic, S., Strauss, B., The art of and in psychotherapy: from theory to praxis, The Society for Psychotherapy Research, Heidelberg, German, June 23-26, 2021.

Sajnani, N. Psychotherapeutic factors in drama therapy and psychodrama. Neuroscience and theatre therapy. National University of Theatre and Film, Romania, May 26-28, 2021.

Sajnani, N., Norris, J. In the face of the other: Dramatic improvisation as collaborative research. International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry, University of Illinois – Urbana-Champagne, May 19-22.

Sajnani, N. Krasanakis, S. Collaborating across borders: The global state of dramatherapy. European Federation of Dramatherapy, Prague, Czech Republic, May 7-8, 2021.

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Sajnani, N. Butler, J., Willemsen, M. What is the contribution of DvT to health?: A scoping review. DvT Virtual Conference: Reshaped and Transformed, April 22-23, 2021.

Sajnani, N. DvT as research and researching DvT, DvT Virtual Conference: Reshaped and Transformed, April 22-23, 2021

Sajnani, N., Talwar, S., Yi, S., Thomas, N. Co-strugglers: Creative arts therapies, critical pedagogy, and ethical response/ability. Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, April 9, 2021.

Sajnani, N. Dintino, C., Clohan, M. [Invited Speaker] Flipping the script on aging. NYU Steinhardt Humanities and the Arts Conference. April 9, 2021.

Sajnani, N. Dintino, C., Clohan, M. [Invited Speaker] Flipping the script on aging. UN-NGO Committee on Mental Health, March 25, 2021.

Sajnani, N. Improvising online. [Guest Lecture]. Drama Therapy Research Center, Sri Lanka, January 15, 2021.

Sajnani, N. Theatre and Health Lab Colloquium [Chair] New York University, Feb 3-13, 2021

Sajnani, N. Cultivating a dynamic state of play in an online environment [Guest Lecture]. Tel Hai University, January 6, 2021.

Sajnani, N. The great wave: The future of drama therapy is collaborative [Keynote Speaker]. British Association of Dramatherapists, November 27, 2020.

Sajnani, N. Playing with Uncertainty [Guest Lecture Series]. Bergman Chair: National University of Mexico, November 21-Dec 5, 2020.

Sajnani, N. The Response of Creative Arts Therapists During Covid-10 [Guest Speaker]. Irish Association of Creative Arts Therapies, Oct. 10, 2020.

Sajnani, N. The Response of Drama Therapists During Covid-10 [Guest Lecture]. Argentina, August 27, 2020.

Sajnani, N. Drama therapy, trauma, and social justice [Guest Lecture]. St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai, July 11, 2020.

Sajnani, N. The Role of the Arts and Arts Therapies in the Pandemic [Co-Chair and Presenter], Joint event between NYU Creative Arts Therapies Consortium, Research Center for Arts & Wellbeing at Edge Hill University, and World Health Organization, June 18, 2020.

Sajnani, N. Teaching theatre online. New York Theatre Workshop, May 26, 2020.

Sajnani, N. The Need for a Critical Aesthetic Paradigm in Drama Therapy [Keynote Speaker], German Institute for Theatre Therapy, Remscheid, Germany, June 4-9, 2019.

Sajnani, N. The Role of Therapeutic Theatre in Raising Awareness about Addiction [Invited Speaker], Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, London, UK. May 15, 2019.

Sajnani, N. Disruption: The Art of Surprise [Keynote Speaker], American Society for Group Psychotherapy and Psychodrama, Manchester, NH, May 3-6, 2019. Nisha Sajnani Page 11

Sajnani, N. The Arts and Science of Reflective Practice. [Invited Speaker], Harvard Program in Refugee Trauma Master Class, Orvieto, Italy, April 1-5, 2019.

Sajnani, N. Awais, Y. Critical Pedagogy in the Arts Therapies [Co-Chair] Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, NY, March 16, 2019.

Sajnani, N. The Acting Cure. [Invited Speaker]. Arts in Psychotherapy Conference Edge Hill University, Liverpool, February 28, 2019.

Sajnani, N. Improvisation and Repertoire. [Keynote Speaker]. Performing Research Intensive for Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, London, January 16, 2019.

Sajnani, N. Theatre and mental health. [Keynote Speaker], Save your Soul, Sophiensaele Center for Performing Arts, Berlin, November 10, 2018.

Sajnani, N., & Hodermarska, M., Snow, S., Landers, F., Butler, J., Bailey, S. Teaching Therapeutic Theatre: The Reality of Performance in Drama Therapy Training Programs. North American Drama Therapy Association Annual Conference. Kansas City, MO: November 7, 2019

Sajnani, N. Fire and Ice: Improvising in the Ecotones of the Creative Arts Therapies. [Keynote Speaker], Nordic Creative Arts Therapies Conference, Iceland, November 6-11, 2018.

Sajnani, N. “Drama Therapy and Social Justice” [Invited Speaker], at Nuertingen-Geislingen University (NGU), June 12, 2018.

Sajnani, N. “Drama Therapy Research: Trends in Biographical Performance” [Keynote Speaker], Institut Fur Theatretherapie. Germany, June 7-10, 2018.

Sajnani, N. & Salvatore, J. “Look again: Disrupting consumption through improvisation and verbatim performance” [Invited Speaker], International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry Special Interest Group. US, May, 2018.

Sajnani, N. “The Arts and Science of Reflective Practice.” [Invited Speaker], Harvard Program in Refugee Trauma Master Class, Orvieto, Italy, April 1-5, 2018.

Sajnani, N. Chapin-Stephenson, R., Beardall, N., Zarate, B., Socha, D. “Online Education in the Arts Therapies: Challenges and Opportunities” [Lecture and Masterclass], European Consortium for Arts Therapies Education. Krakow, Poland. Sept. 16-19, 2017.

Sajnani, N., & Hodermarska, M. Communities-in-the-making: How a therapeutic theatre series offers drama therapists an opportunity to re/make professional identities. [peer-reviewed professional presentation] British Association for Drama Therapy Annual Conference. Chester University. Chester England: September 6-8, 2017.

Sajnani, N. “Deep Diversity: Using Action Methods to Examine Implicit Bias” [Featured Workshop], American Society for Group Psychotherapy and Psychodrama. Clearwater, FL: May 4-7, 2017.

Sajnani, N. “Improvisation as a Collective Response to Collective Anxiety” [Invited Workshop]. Institute for Arts and Health. Lesley University, Cambridge, MA: April 28-29, 2017.

Sajnani, N. A Photographic Inquiry into What Sustains Care Providers Working in Contexts of Displacement” [Oral Presentation], North American Refugee Health Conference. Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Canada. June 16-19, 2017. Nisha Sajnani Page 12

Sajnani, N. “Trauma-informed Care” [Featured Speaker], South Shore Coalition of Independent Therapists. Boston, May 12, 2017.

Sajnani, N. “Living Inquiry: Embodied Improvisation as an Approach to Ethnodramatic Research.” [Workshop] Forum on Ethnodrama: The Aesthetics of Research and Playmaking. New York, NYU, April 21-23, 2017.

Sajnani, N. “The Arts and Science of Reflective Practice.” [Lecture], Harvard Program in Refugee Trauma Master Class, Orvieto, Italy, March 27-31, 2017.

Sajnani, N. “The Theatre of the Oppressed in the Context of Anti-Oppression in Higher Education” Harvard Divinity School, Cambridge, MA. March 21, 2017.

Sajnani, N. “Art, Beauty and Healing in the Context of Displacement.” [Lecture], Harvard Program in Refugee Trauma, Orvieto, Italy, Nov. 7-19, 2016.

Sajnani, N. “Critical Pedagogy.” Girls Action Foundation National Youth Forum [Conference], Montreal, Quebec, Nov 3-5, 2016.

Sajnani, N., & Gopalakrishna, M. “Rasa Theory and Method: Indian Performance Theory as a basis for Drama Therapy,” North American Drama Therapy Association Conference. Seattle, WA. Oct. 27- 30, 2016.

Beauregard, M, Stone, R., Trytan, N., & Sajnani, N. “From Survey to Play: Performing Research Findings from a Survey about Gender and Sexuality,” North American Drama Therapy Association Conference. Seattle, WA. Oct. 27-30, 2016.

Sajnani, N. “The Role of the Arts in Mental Health” [Lecture] United Nations Committee on Mental Health, United Nations, NY, October 6, 2016.

Sajnani, N. & Palacio, O. “Mapping Home Amidst a Global Crisis of Place,” [Panel], Lesley University, September 30, 2016.

Sajnani, N. “Trauma-informed Care in the arts therapies,” Clinical Instructors Professional Development Day, Lesley University, September 23, 2016.

Sajnani, N. “Performing Emergency: In the World and of the World” [Keynote] 2nd European Developmental Transformations Conference, Bristol, UK. May 26-29, 2016.

Sajnani, N. “The Arts and Science of Reflective Practice.” [Lecture], Harvard Program in Refugee Trauma Master Class, Orvieto, Italy, April 10-16, 2016.

Sajnani, N. “Cultural Humility in Action” [Featured Workshop] American Society for Group Psychotherapy and Psychodrama. Pheonix, AZ: March 30-April 2, 2016.

Sajnani, N. “Art, Beauty and Healing.” [Lecture], Harvard Program in Refugee Trauma, Orvieto, Italy Nov. 10-20, 2015.

Sajnani, N. “Critical Pedagogy.” Girls Action Foundation National Youth Forum [Conference], Montreal, Quebec, Oct. 20-25, 2015.

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Sajnani, N., Hodermarska, M., Bleuer, J., & Mayor, C. “Performing the Other: Teaching cultural competency in drama therapy.” North American Drama Therapy Association Conference. White Plains, NY. Oct. 15-19, 2015.

Sajnani, N. “Arts, identity, and healing in the context of the refugee crisis. “[Invited Speaker] Postgraduate Medical Institute, Edgehill University, June 1st, 2016.

Sajnani, N., Nguyen, T., & Johnson, D. “Homo Elitus: A performance about privilege and complicity.” North American Drama Therapy Association Conference. White Plains, NY. Oct. 15-19, 2015.

Sajnani, N. Bleuer, J., Tomczyc, P., Doctor, D. “Body of knowledge: Cultural Response/ability Guidelines”. North American Drama Therapy Association Conference. White Plains, NY. Oct. 15- 19, 2015.

Sajnani, N. & Doktor, D. “Teaching cultural competency in the arts therapies”. European Consortium for Arts Therapies Education. Palermo, Sicily. September 16-19, 2015.

Sajnani, N. “Living Enquiry: Improvisation as Research in Drama Therapy.” 9th annual Developmental Transformations [Conference]. New Haven, USA. 17-19, April, 2015.

Sajnani, N., & Landis, H. “Trauma-Informed Drama Therapy and Psychodrama.” Association for Group Psychotherapy and Psychodrama, [Conference], Philadelphia, PA, April 9-12, 2015.

Sajnani, N., Beardall, N., Zarate, R., Chapin-Stephenson, R., Pinna-Perez, A. “Arts and Mental Health: The Expressive Therapies [Panel Chair], Conte Brain Science Center, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, Jan.23, 2015.

Sajnani, N. “Art, Beauty and Healing.” [Lecture], Harvard Program in Refugee Trauma Harvard University, Orvieto, Rome, Nov. 11-21, 2014.

Sajnani, N. “Trauma-Informed Drama Therapy.” [Panel Chair], North American Drama Therapy Association, Yosemite, CA, Nov. 1, 2014.

Sajnani, N. “Body of Knowledge” [Panel Chair] North American Drama Therapy Association, Yosemite, CA, Nov. 1, 2014.

Sajnani, N. “Developing Intercultural Best Practice Guidelines for Drama Therapy.” North American Drama Therapy Association [Conference], Yosemite, CA, Nov. 1, 2014.

Sajnani, N. “Performing Love and Loss in the Aftermath of Trauma.” [Keynote Presentation], Series on Trauma-Informed Drama Therapy, Creative Alternatives of New York, NY, Oct. 24, 2014.

Sajnani, N. “Body Politics: Embodying Intersectionality.” [workshop], Conversations of Color, Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, New York University, Oct. 23, 2014.

Sajnani, N. “Performing Memory in the Aftermath of Violence.” [Keynote Presentation], Visual and Performing Arts and Human Rights, Wellesley University, Wellesley, MA, Oct. 21, 2014.

Sajnani, N. “Critical Pedagogy.” Girls Action Foundation National Youth Forum [Conference], Montreal, Quebec, Oct. 15-19, 2014.

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Sajnani, N. “Trauma-Informed Drama Therapy”, [Guest Speaker], Concordia University, Montreal, Oct. 14, 2014

Sajnani, N., “Improvising Coexistence: Teaching Cultural Competency in and through Drama Therapy.” Institut für Theatertherapie [Keynote Presentation]. Remscheid, Germany. June 5- 8. 2014.

Sajnani, N., Wong, A., Linds, W., Ndejuru, L., Gareau, P., Lu, L., “The Living Histories Ensemble: Performing Oral Histories on the Edge.” Berkshire Conference of Women Historians [Artist in Residence]. Toronto, ON, Canada. May 22-25, 2014.

Sajnani, N., Beardall, N., Zarate, R., Chapin-Stephenson, R., Estrella, K. “Arts and Mental Health: The Expressive Therapies [Panel Chair], Conte Center for Brain Science, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, Jan.23, 2014.

Sajnani, N., Goodill, S., Kaiser, D., Murphy, K., Landis, H., Scherlong, N., “Research in the Creative Arts Therapies: Purposes and Possibilities.” Expressive Therapies Summit [Conference]. New York, USA. 7- 10, Nov. 2013

Sajnani, N., “Action Methods in the Treatment of Trauma.” Healing the Generations: Child and Family Trauma Conference [Conference]. Groton, CT, USA. Oct. 2-5, 2013.

Pendzik, S., Sajnani, N., Little, E., Mowers, D., “The Ethics of Aesthetics in Drama Therapy and Embodied Research: Multidisciplinary Perspectives.” North American Drama Therapy Association [Conference]. Montreal, Canada. 26-29 Sept. 2013.

Sajnani, N., Parsa, P., Giacona, A., Carter, S., Hix, L., Radish, J., Rozenman, L., Benjamin, P., Ramadani, V., “Embodied Methodologies: An Introduction to Arts Based Research.” North American Drama Therapy Association [Conference]. Montreal, Canada. 26-29 Sept. 2013.

Raucher, G., Sajnani, N. “Culture Lab: Assessing a Pedagogical Approach to the Basics of Cultural Competence.” North American Drama Therapy Association [Conference]. Montreal, Canada. 26- 29 Sept. 2013.

Sajnani, N. “Embodied Methodologies: Arts Based Research in Drama Therapy.” European Consortium for Arts Therapies Education [Conference]. Paris, France. 11-14, Sept. 2013.

Sajnani, N., Johnson, D.R. “Responding to Conflict Through Drama and Theater.” Conflict as Catalyst: 4th Annual Arts in Healthcare [Conference]. Cambridge, USA. May 31- June 1, 2013.

Sajnani, N. “DvT Bebop Playback.” 8th annual Developmental Transformations [Conference]. New Haven, USA. 19-21, April, 2013.

Sajnani, N. “Facilitating Student Attachment through Trauma-informed Play.” European Congress of Dramatherapy and Playtherapy [Conference]. Athens, Greece. 23-25, Nov. 2012.

Sajnani, N. “Facilitating Across Difference.”, Girls Action Foundation [Conference], Quebec, Canada. 14- 17 Nov. 2012

Sajnani, N., Curtis, S., Davis, J., Mayor, C., Wittig, J. “Social Justice and the Creative Arts Therapies.” Expressive Therapies Summit [Conference]. New York, USA. 8-11, Nov. 2012.

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Sajnani, N., Hodermarska, M., Arnason, C., Fan, S. “Arts Based Research and the Arts Therapies.” Expressive Therapies Summit [Conference]. New York, USA. 8-11, Nov. 2012.

Hodermarska, M., Haen, C., Sajnani, N., McLellan, L., Nasper, E., Dintino, C., “Body of Knowledge: How Does Trauma Perform? A Panel Discussion on the Aesthetics of Trauma.” North American Drama Therapy Association [Conference]. New Haven, USA. 2-5 Nov. 2012.

Sajnani, N., Trytan, N. “Drama Therapy: Beginnings.” North American Drama Therapy Association [Conference]. New Haven, USA. 2-5 Nov. 2012.

Jewers-Dailley, K., Sajnani, N., Johnson, D.R., Pitre, R., Mayor, C., Frydman, J., Rabinowitz, J.“ALIVE: On Location in New Haven Public Schools.” North American Drama Therapy Association [Conference]. New Haven, USA. 2-5 Nov. 2012.

Kleinmann, A., McAdam, L., Trottier, D., Smith, A., Williams, B., Sajnani, N. “From the Playground to the Battlefield: Race as Performance.” North American Drama Therapy Association [Conference]. New Haven, USA. 2-5 Nov. 2012.

Sajnani, N., Gareau, P., Lu, L., Linds, W., Rozenberg, M. “Encountering the Living Histories Ensemble: Playback Theater and Complex Trauma.” Playback North America [Conference]. Washington, D.C., USA, 5-8, Oct. 2012.

Sajnani, N., The Living Histories Ensemble: Towards a Culture of “Never Again.” Beyond Trauma and Testimony: Oral History in the Aftermath of Collective Violence [Conference]Montreal, Canada. March 22-25, 2012.

Sajnani, N., Ndejuru, L., Linds, W., “Situating Playback Theatre as a Performative Approach to Oral History, Truths, and Traumatic Memory in the Montreal Life Stories Project.” Oral History Association: Oral History and the Politics of Truth, Trauma, and Reconciliation [Conference] Denver, Colorado, USA. Oct. 12-16, 2011.

Sajnani, N., “The Living Histories Ensemble: Research Creation through Playback Theatre in an Oral History Project.”, Canadian Association for the Theatre Research, Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences [Conference] Concordia University, Montreal, Canada, May 28-31, 2010.

Sajnani, N. “Enabling Collective Storytelling and Dialogue Through Performance in the Montreal Life Stories Project.” Remembering War, Genocide, and other Human Rights Violations: Oral History, New Media, and the Arts [Conference]. Concordia University, Montreal, Canada. November 5-9, 2009.

Sajnani, N., The Archive and the Repertoire: Performing Oral Histories in the Montreal Life Stories Project, National Council on Public History, Providence, RI, USA. April 2-5, 2009.

High, S., Linds, W., Little, E., Sajnani, N., Schwab, T., Wong, A., Roth, L., Performing Human Rights: Life Stories of Montrealers Displaced by War, Genocide, and Human Rights Violations, Oral History and Performance OHMAR [Conference], Columbia University, NYC, USA. March 13-15, 2009.

Sajnani, N., Culturally Responsive Assessment in Drama Therapy, paper presented at the National Association for Drama Therapy [Conference]. San Francisco, CA, USA. Nov. 8-11, 2008.

Sajnani, N. & Johnson, D.R., Performing Power in the Playspace, workshop presented at Performing the World, East Side Institute [Conference]. New York, NY, USA, Oct. 2-5, 2008.

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Sajnani, N., Neumark, D., Linds, W., Staging Traumatic Memory, Art As Witness: Art, , and Trauma Resolution International Conference [Conference]. Concordia University, Montreal, Canada, Sept. 18-20, 2008.

Sajnani, N., Merging Margins through Auto/biographical Performance, International Drama/Theatre & Education Association (IDEA) Fifth World Congress [Congress]. University of Ottawa, Canada, July 2-8, 2004.

Sajnani, N., Unsettling the Mosaic: The Performance of Citizenship and Co-Existence in Canada, paper presented at the 9th International Karl Polanyi Conference [Conference]. Concordia University, Montreal, Canada, November 12-16th 2003.

Sajnani, N., Strategic Narratives: The Embodiment ofMinority Discourses in Biographical Performance Praxis, paper presented at the European Consortium for the Creative Arts Therapies [Conference]. Madrid, Spain, Sept. 18-22, 2003.

Sajnani, N., & Luppicini, R., Perceptions of Tolerance Amongst Graduate Students in an Urban University, paper presented at the NGO Forum, United Nations World Conference Against Racism [Conference]. Durban, South Africa, Aug. 31-Sept. 8, 2001.

Sajnani, N., Storymaking and the Therapeutic Process, Workshop presented at the Canadian Counselling Association, Halifax, NS, Canada, 2003.

CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Theatre of the Oppressed with Julian Boal, NYU National Institutes of Health Extramural Research Certificate Protecting Human Research Participants Cultural Literacy Curriculum Institute: Focus on Islam and religious literacy, Lesley University Summer Technology Institute: Training on best practices for online course design and instruction, Lesley University Mastery Certificate in Global Mental Health: Trauma and Recovery Harvard Program in Refugee Trauma, Harvard University Mastery Certificate, Institute for the Study and Promotion of Race and Culture, Boston University Graduate Certificate, Institute for Developmental Transformations, New York Graduate Certificate in Community Economic Development, Institute for Community and Public Affairs, Concordia University.

UNIVERSITY SERVICE MPAP Representative, Curriculum Committee, NYU Steinhardt (2019-Present) Co-Chair, Curriculum Committee, NYU Steinhardt Music and Performing Arts Professions (2019- Present) Member, Doctoral Advisory Committee, NYU Steinhardt (2018-Present) Search Committee Member, , NYU Steinhardt (2017-2018) Search Committee Member, Drama Department, NYU Tisch (2017-2018)

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COMMUNITY SERVICE

Principal Editor, Drama Therapy Review: Journal of the North American Drama Therapy Association President, Foundation for the Arts and Trauma Editorial Board, The Arts in Psychotherapy Editorial Board, Journal of the Applied Arts and Health Editorial Board, Journal of Embodied Research Editorial Board, Chest of Broken Toys: Journal of Developmental Transformations Advisory Board, Curalens.ai Co-Founder, Critical Pedagogy in the Arts Therapies Think Tank Co-Founder, World Alliance of Drama Therapy Advisory Board Member, First Aid Arts (2015-2018) Representative, National Coalition of Creative Arts Therapies Associations (NCCATA) (2011-2013) President, North American Drama Therapy Association (NADTA) (2011-2013) President-Elect, North American Drama Therapy Association (2009-2011) Ethics Chair, North American Drama Therapy Association (2007-2009) Canadian Representative, North American Drama Therapy Association (2006-2007) Board Member, Teesri Duniya Theatre, Montreal (2002-2008) Board Member, Girls Action Foundation, Montreal (2004-2006)