- PhD Educational/Applied Theatre, New York University
MA Teachers of Educational Theatre, New York University
BA Children’s Literature and Mythology (Education Concentration), Vassar College
Dr. Gina L. Grandi comes to Appalachian State by way of New York University, where she taught theatre education and pre-certification courses and worked as a professional development consultant with public schools in the city. She continues to facilitate professional development work with K-12 teachers, specifically around arts integration, culturally responsive pedagogy, and anti-racist curriculum and classroom practices. She serves as an editorial board member for the journal Voices in Urban Education.
In her pre-university life, she was a full-time public school teacher in San Francisco for thirteen years, teaching both 5th Grade and High School Theatre and Humanities. For ten years in New York, she worked as a teaching artist, teacher mentor, and non-profit program director, working to bring theatre programs to underserved high schools.
She is the co-founder and artistic director of The Bechdel Group, a theatre company dedicated to fostering writers writing for women. She is the editor of a series of anthologies of ten-minute plays produced through the company. Gina also serves as an artistic associate and dramaturg for NYU’s New Plays for Young Audiences series. In addition, Gina is a mask and puppet designer and her short fiction has been featured in Cicada, Apex Magazine, Gold Fever Press, and 100wordstory.org.
Additional publications include:
“’I’m Gonna Use It to Tell You:’ Self-Reflection and Construction of Self,” ArtsPraxis (Vol.7, Issue 1)
“Theatre as Method: Performance Creation as Qualitative Inquiry,” Action Research Journal
“Trends and Tribulations: Choosing and Developing TYA Scripts” (working title), chapter for inclusion in the upcoming Routledge Companion on Theatre and Youth (co-author)

Title: Assistant Professor Theatre Generalist
Department: Theatre & Dance
Email address: Email me
Phone: (828) 832-6971