Matt Omasta

Matt Omasta earned his Doctorate in theatre with a theatre for youth concentration from the Arizona State University Herberger Institute School of Theatre and Film in May 2009.

In 2010, he received the Outstanding Dissertation Award from the American Educational Research Association’s Arts and Learning Special Interest Group, along with an Honorable Mention for the American Alliance for Theatre and Education’'s Distinguished Dissertation Award. Omasta’s dissertation, "Adolescent audiences' affective engagement with theatre: A mixed methods case study surveying middle school students' attitudes, values and beliefs," examined how adolescent viewers’ attitudes, values and/or beliefs may have been affected by viewing Y. York's "Getting Near to Baby," a Theatre for Young Audiences (TYA) production. Omasta’'s dissertation adviser was Johnny Saldana, a School of Theatre and Film professor.

Omasta recently accepted a position as assistant professor of the Theatre & Theatre Education Program Coordinator at Utah State University, where he will teach courses in drama/theatre pedagogy, theatre history, dramatic literature, performance theory and criticism.