Thursday, March 16, 2017 at 3:00 p.m.
Neville Scarfe Building (Library Block), 2125 Main Mall, Room 278
Examining Committee:
Dr. Marla Buchanan (Research Supervisor)
Dr. Marvin Westwood, Research Committee
Dr. George Belliveau, Research Committee (LLED)
Title: “Contact! Unload: a narrative study and filmic exploration of veterans performing stories of war and transition”
ABSTRACT
This study uses narrative methods and filmmaking to understand the experiences of six war veterans who performed Contact! Unload, the theatre component of “Man, Art, Action,” a recent (2015/16) Movember-funded arts-based project, designed to engage veterans and the Canadian public with issues of military mental health. This study harnesses participants’ personal change narratives over the course of creating, rehearsing and performing Contact! Unload to understand therapeutic benefits for participants, to contribute to existing theories on action-oriented and theatre-based approaches to psychotherapy, and to inform a discussion of the needs of veterans in transition.