Brent Blair

Brent Blair, Ph.D. is a Professor of Practice and the founding director of the Institute for Theatre & Social Change (ITSC) at the USC School of Dramatic Arts where he has been teaching since 1994. He founded the MA in Applied Theatre Arts (2010-2014), has created numerous undergraduate courses and a minor in Applied Theatre Arts focusing on the areas of therapy, education, and social change, and has designed community-based projects and professional development training programs in arts and social change both locally, nationally, and around the world. A designated Linklater voice teacher, he trained in Theatre of the Oppressed (TO) with the late Augusto Boal from 1996 until his death in 2009. His own work with ITSC is currently centered on local communities exploring artistic resistance in anti-democratic cultures, particularly in the area of criminal justice, immigrant rights, and prison reform. He studied counseling psychology and holds his doctorate in Depth Psychology from Pacifica Graduate Institute where he has been teaching since 2019.