Format / Medium Academic Research Report; Interdisciplinary Field Study
Presentation & Context 2023, ATEC (Asia Theatre Education Centre) Joint Research Project
Formally presented at the ATEC International Conference.
Key Roles Researcher
Keywords #AppliedTheatre, #EducationalTheatre, #TherapeuticTheatre, #SocialParticipationTheatre, #AcademicResearch, #QualitativeResearch, #ATEC
Contribution & Methodology
As a Co-author on this formal, team-based research project, I investigated the status and utilization of applied drama in Korea.
My specific role was to conduct qualitative field research. This involved:
Identifying, listing, and interviewing key applied drama organizations and field experts across the nation.
Collecting and analyzing diverse case studies (e.g., theatre-based therapy, community-engaged art).
Co-drafting the report's Introduction and Conclusion/Suggestion sections, contributing to the final academic publication.
The study's methodology was both qualitative (expert interviews, as above) and quantitative (surveys on university student awareness).
Strategic Insight
This project is the theoretical and academic foundation for my entire practice. While my media art projects (like 'SEEDME' or the 'Seoul Data Hub') use new technologies (XR, AI, Data-Viz), this research grounds them in the human-centric methodologies of Applied Theatre: behavioral change, social participation, and education.
It provides the "why" behind my "how," demonstrating a deep, long-term investigation into using participatory systems (both analog and digital) to foster individual and societal change.
Abstract
Applied theatre, with its unique variety of characteristics and functions such as therapeutic, educational, and social participation properties, is currently being actively used in various parts of Korean society. However, applied theatre is very complexly intertwined not as an independent, but as a convergence type. Therefore, this study classified applied theatre for study into therapeutic theatre, educational theatre, and social participation theatre based on their original functions. Originally, applied theatre referred to all forms of work in which people directly participate and act because it is a public participatory theatre with political, cultural, social, and educational goals. Applied theatre induces changes in people's behaviors, pursues changes in individuals and society, and lastly has outstanding characteristics in aesthetic and practical aspects of art. Therefore, this study investigated the status and utilization of Korean applied theatre while recognizing its effectiveness. It conducted research on the status and utilization of Korean applied theatre with both qualitative and quantitative investigations. First, it investigated the status of research organizations and institutions for applied theatre and academic research that has been carried out in Korea. Second, it not only surveyed active organizations and institutions regarding applied theatre, but also conducted interviews with field experts and collected relevant press releases in order to closely inspect the status of applied theatre in Korea. Third, it conducted a survey to find out the status of applied theatre education in universities in Korea and university students' awareness of and the need for applied theatre. It is meaningful in that it examined both the status of applied theatre education being conducted in educational institutions for theatre in Korea and the need for research on applied theatre. In addition, it found out that theatre majors in Korea had a strong preference for applied theatre. This suggests the need to include subjects regarding applied theatre in the curricula of theatre departments in Korea; it is thought that a variety of in-depth studies on applied theatre will be required in the future.
Keywords : Applied theatre, Educational theatre, Therapeutic theatre, Social participation theatre, Psychodrama, Therapeutic drama, Educational drama