Professor Bree Hadley
Faculty of Creative Industries, Education & Social Justice,
School of Creative Practice,
Drama
Biography
Professor Bree Hadley is a recognised international authority on diversity, inclusion, and access in the arts, and arts education.She is editor of The Routledge Handbook of Disability Arts Culture and Media (2019, with Donna McDonald), author of Theatre, Social Media, and Meaning Making (Palgrave 2017) and Disability, Public Space Performance & Spectatorship: Unconscious Performers (Palgrave 2014), and has written articles on representation and access in the arts for Disability & Society, CSPA (Center for Sustainable Practice in the Arts) Quarterly, Performance Research, Australasian Drama Studies, Brolga: An Australian Journal About Dance, and other journals. Hadley has also written extensively or newspapers and online platforms such as The Australian, ArtsHub, and Australian Stage Online.
Hadley currently leads The Evolution of Disability Arts In Australia, an ARC funded project co-designing an archive documenting 50 years of disability arts in Australia with performing, visual, and media artists around Australia (https://www.arc.gov.au/news-publications/media/research-highlights/constructing-first-australian-archive-disability-arts). As Chief Investigator on three ARC LIEF grants, she has also made information about a range of underdocumented performance practices – including disability performance, Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander performance, and independent performance in Queensland – available through the AusStage database (www.ausstage.edu.au).
In her practice-based research, Hadley has been investigating interest in ‘creative integration’ of sign language, captioning, and audio description into performing and visual arts works – for example, in the 2020 Museums & Gallery Association Award winning Vis-Ability collaboration with Dr Janice Rieger (QUT Art Museum http://www.artmuseum.qut.edu.au/whats-on/2019/vis-ability.php). Her performance text, The Excentric Fixations Project, has also recently appeared in At the Intersection of Disability and Drama: A Critical Anthology of New Plays (McFarlane https://mcfarlandbooks.com/product/at-the-intersection-of-disability-and-drama/).
Prior to joining QUT in 2007, Hadley worked as a writer, dramaturg, director, arts facilitator, and administrator for independent theatre companies, and for the Glen Eira City Council. Hadley is a past President of the Australasian Association for Drama, Theatre and Performance Studies (ADSA), a past Director of Performance Studies international (PSi), and has served as a committee member and consultant for youth, community, and disability arts organisations.
Hadley is currently Academic Lead - Staffing & Development and Academic Lead - Inclusion, Equity & Diversity in the School of Creative Practice in the Faculty of Creative Industries, Education, and Social Justice at QUT.
Personal details
Positions
- Professor
Faculty of Creative Industries, Education & Social Justice,
School of Creative Practice,
Drama
Keywords
Disability drama, theatre, performance, dance, Disability arts, Contemporary, Physical, Public Space Performance, Digital and social media performance, Immersive, participatory, interactive performance, Audiences, spectators, spectatorship, Policy, industry, and production climate effect on practice, Equity, diversity, and access in educational practices
Research field
Performing Arts and Creative Writing, Communication and Media Studies
Field of Research code, Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC), 2008
Qualifications
- PhD (Monash University)
- Master of Education (Higher Education) (Queensland University of Technology)
- Master of Arts (Writing and Literature) (Deakin University)
- Graduate Certificate in Arts & Entertainment Management (Deakin University)
- Bachelor of Arts in Creative Arts (Griffith University)
Professional memberships and associations
Member, Performance and Disability Working Group, International Federation for Theatre Research (IFTR)
Member, and past President, Vice-President + Treasurer, Australasian Association for Theatre, Drama and Performance Studies (ADSA)
Member, and past Director, Performance Studies international (PSi)
Member, Disability Leadership Institute (DLI)
Member, Arts Access Australia
Teaching
Hadley has been appointed to many leadership roles at QUT –
- Academic Lead - Staffing & Development, School of Creative Practice, Faculty of Creative Industries, Education, and Social Justice, 2022-Date
- Academic Lead - Inclusion, Equity & Diversity, School of Creative Practice, Faculty of Creative Industries, Education, and Social Justice, 2022-Date
- Study Area Coordinator - Acting & Drama, Faculty of Creative Industries, Education, and Social Justice, 2020-2022
- Head of Postgraduate Coursework Studies, Creative Industries Faculty, 2015-2019
- Associate Director – QUT Creative Lab, Creative Industries Faculty, 2017-2018
- Chair, Creative Industries Faculty Ethics Committee, 2017-2018, Alternate Chair, 2015-2016, and member 2008-2017; School of Creative Practice Representative, Faculty of Creative Industries, Education, and Social Justice Equity Committee, 2023-date
- Chair, Creative Industries Faculty Equity Committee, 2010-2017
- Postgraduate Study Area Coordinator, Drama, Creative Industries Faculty, 2014-2015
- Postgraduate Study Area Coordinator, Creative Production & Arts Management, Creative Industries Faculty, 2008-2012
- Work Integrated Learning Coordinator, Drama, Creative Industries Faculty, 2008-2011
- Honours Coordinator, Drama, Creative Industries Faculty, 2007-2011
Hadley has also acted as Unit Coordinator, Lecturer, Tutor, Workshop Leader, and Industry Project and Internship supervisor for units including–
Bachelor of Fine Arts Units in Creative Careers
- KYB102 Pathways to a Creative Career (Coordinator)
Bachelor of Fine Arts (Drama) Units in Process, Applied & Community Performance
- KTB102 Process Drama (Coordinator, Lecturer, Tutor/Workshop Leader)
- KTB209 Applied Performance (Coordinator, Lecturer, Tutor/Workshop Leader)
- KYB201 Socially Engaged Arts Practice (Coordinator, Lecturer, Tutor/Workshop Leader)
Bachelor of Fine Arts (Drama) Units in Contemporary Performance & Production
- KTB120 Diverse Theatre Practice (Coordinator, Lecturer)
- KTB225 Radical Theatre Forms (Coordinator, Lecturer)
- KSB249 Acting Studies 4: The Actor and the Digital Stage (Lecturer)
- KTB110 Plays That Changed The World (Lecturer)
- KTB101 Understanding Theatre (Lecturer)
- KTB104 Performance Innovation (Lecturer)
- KTB105 Production 1: Storymaking (Director)
- KTB204 / KTP401 Understanding Performance (Coordinator, Lecturer, Tutor)
- KTB207 Staging Australia (Lecturer)
- KTB216 Drama Practice: Interpretation (Coordinator)
HDR Postgraduate & Professional Development Modules
- KKM001 Introduction to Personal Social Media Networking (Coordinator, Facilitator)
- KKM001 Professional Social Media Networking (Coordinator, Facilitator)
- ATN Critical & Creative Thinking (Coordinator, Facilitator)
Master of Creative Industries Units in Creative Futures, Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Arts Management
- KKP001 Entrepreneurship and the New Economy (Coordinator, Lecturer, Tutor)
- KKP002 20:20 Vision: Imagining the Creative Future (Tutor)
- KKP111 Digital Tools in the Creative Economy (Coordinator, Lecturer, Tutor)
- KKP112 Telling Stories: Narrative in CI (Coordinator, Lecturer)
- KKP414 Digital Writing: Words Under Glass (Coordinator, Lecturer)
- KTP406 CI Events & Festivals (Coordinator, Lecturer, Tutor)
- KTP409 Arts & Cultural Management (Coordinator, Lecturer, Tutor)
- KKP408 Marketing Arts & Culture (Coordinator)
- KKP402 Managing Money in the Arts (Coordinator)
- KKP404 Arts & Cultural Policy (Coordinator)
- KTP411 Advanced Practice in CP&AM (Coordinator, Lecturer, Tutor)
- KKP411 Major Project in Arts & CI Management (Coordinator, Lecturer, Tutor)
- KKP003 Project Design in Creative Industries (Study Area Advisor, Coordinator, Lecturer, Tutor)
- KKP004 Innovation in Creative Industries: Major Project (Study Area Advisor,Coordinator, Lecturer, Tutor, Supervisor)
Bachelor of Creative Industries Units in Creative Futures, Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Arts Management
- KKB180 Creative Futures (Coordinator)
- KKB385 Creative Enterprise Studio 3 (Coordinator)
- KTB211 Creative Industries Events & Festivals (Coordinator, Lecturer, Tutor)
- KTB210 Creative Industries Management (Coordinator, Lecturer, Tutor)
- KTB305 The Entrepreneurial Artist (Coordinator, Lecturer, Tutor)
Masters and Bachelors Units in Workplace Learning
- KKB341/2/3/4 Workplace Learning (Discipline Unit Coordinator, Supervisor)
- KKP320 Advanced Workplace Learning (Discipline Unit Coordinator, Supervisor)
- KKB345 & KKP346 Creative Industries Project (Project Supervisor)
- KKP616 Postgraduate Independent Project
Experience
Management Committee Member, Access Arts, and Chair Steering Committee / Creative Consultant Undercover Artist Festival, 2019-Date.
Member, Circa Access & Inclusion Advisory Committee, 2021-2022.
Member, Arts & NDIS Working Group, Arts Access Australia, 2017-2018.
Member, Management Committee, Youth Arts Queensland, 2010-2014.
Member, National Advisory Committee, JUMP National Mentoring Program for Young and Emerging Artists, Australia Council for the Arts / Youth Arts Queensland, 2009-2011.
Member, Judging Committee, Matilda Awards for Excellence in Brisbane Theatre, Arts Queensland, 2009-2011.
Publications
- Hadley, B., (2017). Theatre, social media, and meaning making. Palgrave Macmillan. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/102592
- Hadley, B., (2014). Disability, public space performance and spectatorship: Unconscious performers. Palgrave Macmillan. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/67934
- Hadley, B., (2017). Disability theatre in Australia: a survey and a sector ecology. Research in Drama Education, 22(3), 305–324. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/112756
- Hadley, B., (2016). Cheats, charity cases and inspirations: disrupting the circulation of disability-based memes online. Disability and Society, 31(5), 676–692. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/97600
- Hadley, B., (2015). Participation, politics and provocations: People with disabilities as non-conciliatory audiences. Participations: journal of audience and reception studies, 12(1), 154–174. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/83559
- Hadley, B., (2014). Practice as method: The ex/centric fixations project. In B. Bolt & E. Barrett (Eds.), Material inventions: applying creative arts research (pp. 145–165). I.B. Tauris Publisher. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/81757
- Hadley, B., Kapur, A., Ruiz, C. & Wrigley, S. (2013). Vision, Viability and Value: Three perspectives on the performing arts across cultures, context and nations. Performance Research, 18(2), 95–101. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/62016
- Hadley, B., (2011). (Dia)logics of difference: Disability, performance and spectatorship in Liz Crow's Resistance on the Plinth. Performance Research, 16(2), 124–131. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/50269
- Hadley, B., Trace, G. & Winter, S. (2010). Uncertainties that matter: Risk, response-ability, ethics and the moment of exchange in live art. About Performance, 10, 137–151. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/39907
- Hadley, B., Rajak, J., Filmer, A., Caines, R. & Read, A. (2010). The 'dirty work' of the lie. Performance Research, 15(2), 123–129. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/39908
QUT ePrints
For more publications by Bree, explore their research in QUT ePrints (our digital repository).
Awards
- Type
- Keynote Speaker/Expert Panel Member/Invited Speaker for a Conference
- Reference year
- 2016
- Details
- Invited to present a keynote paper on 'Social Experiments: Pranks, Political Activism, and Performing Marginality for a Mainstream Audience' at the Performing the Real Symposium at the University of Otago, New Zealand, in June 2016
- Type
- Committee Role/Editor or Chair of an Academic Conference
- Reference year
- 2015
- Details
- Co-Convenor of PSi#21 Fluid States: Performances of Unknowing Performance Studies internaitonal Conference 2015, a festival-style production with conferences, symposia and performances in 15 countries throughout Europe, Asia, Africa, the Americas and the Pacific throughout 2015
- Type
- Keynote Speaker/Expert Panel Member/Invited Speaker for a Conference
- Reference year
- 2015
- Details
- Invited to present keynote on 'Theatre, Social Media & Spectatorship' for PSi#21 Fluid States: Performances of UnKnowing, Performance Studies international conference, at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark,in June 2015
- Type
- Keynote Speaker/Expert Panel Member/Invited Speaker for a Conference
- Reference year
- 2015
- Details
- Invited to present keynote paper on 'Disability Arts in Australasia' for Disability Culture: New Grounds 2015 practice-led research symposium run by Centre for Disability Culture at University of Michigan, USA, in February 2015
- Type
- Keynote Speaker/Expert Panel Member/Invited Speaker for a Conference
- Reference year
- 2014
- Details
- Invited to present keynote paper on 'Theatre & Spectatorship' at the National Theatre of Croatia, Rijeka, Croatia, to launch the Zooming Fluid States festival run by Drugo More (Croatia) and Performance Studies international (global) in Sepember 2014
- Type
- Committee Role/Editor or Chair of an Academic Conference
- Reference year
- 2012
- Details
- Co-Convenor of Compass Points, Australasian Association for Theatre, Drama & Performance Studies 2012 at Queensland University of Technology with Caroline Heim
- Type
- Advisor/Consultant for Industry
- Reference year
- 2011
- Details
- Consultant, Evaluation of "Creating Queensland Program", Brisbane Festival, 2010-2011.
- Type
- Appointment to Prestigious Positions
- Reference year
- 2015
- Details
- Voted in as President of Australasian Association for Theatre, Drama & Performance Studies, 2011-12, 2012-13, 2013-14, 2014-15. (Also voted in as Vice President 2008-2009, 2010-2011, and Treasurer 2015-2016)
- Type
- Appointment to Prestigious Positions
- Reference year
- 2015
- Details
- Voted in as Director of Performance Studies international (PSi), 2011-15
- Type
- Academic Honours, Prestigious Awards or Prizes
- Reference year
- 2010
- Details
- Creative Industries Faculty Dean's Award for Leadership
Supervision
Looking for a postgraduate research supervisor?
I am currently accepting research students for Honours, Masters and PhD study.
You can browse existing student topics offered by QUT or propose your own topic.
Current supervisions
- Crippling Comedies: Symbolic Power in Comic Representations of Disability
PhD, Associate Supervisor
Other supervisors: Adjunct Associate Professor Barbara Adkins, Dr Lisa Stafford
Completed supervisions (Doctorate)
- 'Insider-other' Spectator-Dancer Relationships fostered through Open Rehearsals (2016)
- Bits and Bumps: Understanding Gender in Contemporary Physical Comedy (2015)
- International Acclaim: The Role(s) of the International Film Festival in Supporting Emerging Women's Cinema (2013)
- Mind games : applying White’s principles of narrative therapy to the creation of a cabaret about depression and bipolar disorder (2011)
- Australian Queer Student Activists' Media Representations of 'Queer (2010)
Completed supervisions (Masters by Research)
- Seeing the Chameleon: Barriers to Making Dance Work for Independent Dance Creators in Brisbane (2017)
- THE REAL DEAL: Interrogating the Paradoxical Co-Existence of Reality and Construction in Contemporary Theatre (2016)
- Architecture, The Body and Authority in Performance (2015)
- When Sparks Fly: Developing Formal Mentoring Programs for the Career Development of Young and Emerging Artists (2010)