ATDS Member Zahra Shirvani Saadatabadi Presented Research at IFTR 2026 and Received the BGSU Shanklin Award

ATDS member Zahra Shirvani Saadatabadi presented her research at the IFTR World Congress 2026, What Theatre Does, held at the University of Melbourne, Australia. Her presentation, “Performing Under Surveillance: Women, Visibility and Power in Contemporary Iranian Performance,” explored how women’s bodies and embodied practices negotiate visibility, power, and surveillance in contemporary Iranian performance.

The same research was also recognized with the 2025–2026 Shanklin Award for Research Excellence at Bowling Green State University, where Saadatabadi received second place in the Arts and Humanities category. The award recognizes outstanding graduate student research across the university.

Saadatabadi’s research is situated at the intersection of Gender and Performance Studies, embodiment and the body, and women’s studies. Her work examines women’s bodies as sites of resistance and agency, with a particular focus on contemporary Iranian theatre and performance.

Related Links
IFTR World Congress 2026: https://conference.iftr.org/2026#/programme?lang=en
BGSU Shanklin Award for Research Excellence: https://www.bgsu.edu/student-government/graduate-student-senate/ShanklinColloquiumGSSAwards/PastShanklinandGSSAwards