Aubrey Helene Neumann received an Alumni Grant for Graduate Research and Scholarship from the Graduate School in November 2019.

The AGGRS award will go towards funding four original case studies for Neumann's dissertation, "Staging Communities: Identity, Representation, and Presentation in Applied Theatre with Rural Youth."  She predicts that though applied theatre with rural youth cannot directly impact limited opportunity structures, it can interrogate negative representations of the rural and encourage broader aspirations. She further contends that the temporal limitations of applied theatre practice may complement existing, long-term efforts to address challenges such as outmigration, unemployment, and polarization.

Neumann is working on applied theatre with rural youth. The award will fund travel to facilitate and observe theatre workshops throughout the midwest.