Campus Directory

Division Arts Division

Department/College/Unit Academic Senate

Title Assistant Professor

Affiliation Faculty

Other UCSC Campus Affiliation Arts Division

Faculty Type Regular Faculty

Areas of Expertise Acting
Drama
Diversity
Ensemble Theater
Performance
Race
Theater
Speech

Web Site

Additional Location(s) Building J, J18

Mail Stop Theater Arts Center

Biography, Education and Training

Amy is a professional voice and acting coach who is founder and owner of Vocal Context. In addition to working at UCSC, she works with international clients and is faculty at Perry-Mansfield in Colorado, which is the longest continuously running arts program in the US. Her performance work includes the Edinburgh Fringe, Brighton Theatre Festival, and Theatre Amoeba, for which she was just featured in a TEDx talk in Cheongju. Amy has her MA in Voice Studies (Distinction) from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama and has worked at Central, the National Youth Theatre, and the Welcoming Ceremonies for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. She has taught and performed in the US, the UK, the Czech Republic, Argentina, Vietnam, and Korea. Amy  writes about identity, adoption, voice, racism, and culture here and was recently featured on the cover of the New York Times Magazine for her work in adoptee activism and performance, in addition to being referenced in KoreAm, Al Jazeera, Reuters, and The Wall Street Journal. She is a certified Master Teacher of Voicing and Embodying the Archetypes of Myths and Legends, an intercultural actor training method founded by Frankie Armstrong and Janet B. Rodgers.

Research Interests

Currently focusing on the relationship between voice, identity and power structures within actor training environments while incorporating and re-contextualizing interdisciplinary topics such as Critical Pedagogy, Critical Race Theory, Sociolinguistics, Accents, Adoption Studies, Postcolonial Theory, Shakespeare, Standard Language Ideology, EFL, Speech, Singing, Poetry, and Intercultural Theatre.

Teaching Interests

Voice

Speech

Accents and Dialects

Acting

Voicing and Embodying the Archetypes of Myths and Legends

Awards, Honors and Grants

2015

Recipient, VASTA Conference Grant for Interdisciplinary Engagement

2014

Spotlight Adoptee, Global Overseas Adoptees' Link

Selected Presentations

2015

'Cultural Inclusivity in Voice Training' Presenter (Peer-reviewed), VASTA, Montreal

'Remembering to Listen: The relationship between director and voice/dialect coach/designer' Presenter, ATHE, Montreal

'The Performance of Fluency: Actor Techniques and Language Learning' Presenter, ATHE, Montreal

2014       

‘Empowering our Researcher Voice’ Panel Coordinator and Presenter, VASTA 2014, London

‘Expanding the Vocal Palette Using Cross-Cultural Archetype Explorations’ Featured Presentation, VASTA 2014, London

2013       

‘How Does Dysconscious Racism Within Mainstream Voice Pedagogy Affecst Drama Students From Pluralistic Backgrounds?’ Panel Coordinator and Presenter, ATHE, Orlando

2013       

‘Archetypes and the Voice of the Unique Self’ VASTA 2013, Minneapolis

‘Giving Voice to International Students’ Panelist, VASTA 2013, Minneapolis

2012       

‘Sociolinguistics of RP’ Presenter, Shifting Landscapes: Changing Standards in Accent Training, Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Glasgow

Selected Publications

Dysconscious Racism in Mainstream British Voice Pedagogy and its Potential Effects on Students from Pluralistic Backgrounds in UK Drama Conservatoires, Voice and Speech Review, 2015 (Peer Reviewed)

(Link will go live in late Fall 2015)