Bio: Prof. Dr. Ananda Breed is author and co-editor of numerous books and articles that explore performance, transitional justice, culture, education, mental health, and civic engagement including: Performing the Nation: Genocide, Justice, Reconciliation (Seagull Books, 2014), Performance and Civic Engagement (Palgrave Macmillan, 2017), The Routledge Companion to Applied Performance: Volume One - Mainland Europe, North and Latin America, South Africa, and Australia and New Zealand (Routledge, 2020), The Routledge Companion to Applied Performance: Volume Two - Brazil, West Africa, South Asia, South East Asia, United Kingdom and Arab World (Routledge, 2020), Creating Culture in (Post) Socialist Central Asia (Palgrave, 2020), and Children, Youth, and Participatory Arts for Peacebuilding (Routledge, 2024). She has worked as a consultant for IREX and UNICEF in Kyrgyzstan on issues concerning conflict prevention and conducted applied arts workshops in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Lebanon, Indonesia, Japan, Kyrgyzstan, Nepal, Palestine, Rwanda and Turkey. Breed was founder of the Centre for Performing Arts Development (CPAD) at the University of East London and former research fellow at the International Research Centre Interweaving Performance Cultures at Freie University (2013-2014). She is currently Principal Investigator of Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) project Mobile Arts for Peace (2020-2024), Co-Investigator of Arts4Us: working together to scale up place-based arts initiatives that support the mental health of children and young people (2024-27), former Co-Investigator of AHRC GCRF project Changing the Story (2018-2022), and former Principal Investigator of UKRI GCRF Newton Fund project MAP at Home: online psychosocial support through the arts in Rwanda (2020-2022).

Department Responsibilities

School Director of Research & Knowledge Exchange

Subject Specialisms

Applied Performance, Intercultural Performance, Peace and Conflict Studies, Arts-based Research Methods

Qualifications

• PhD - University of Manchester 2009

Awards

• Public Engagement with Research Excellence Award - University of Lincoln 2019
• Fellowship of the Royal Society of Arts - RSA 2017
• Fellowship of Interweaving Performance Cultures - Freie Universität 2013
• Dean’s Award and Research Studentship Award - University of Manchester 2004

Consultancy

International Research and Exchanges Board (IREX), UNICEF, GIZ, British Museum, Jon Egging Trust (JET), Brooklyn Historical Society, YMCA, Boys and Girls Club.