Doug Risner

Doug Risner, PhD, MFA, Distinguished Faculty Fellow & Professor of Dance, Director, MA in Theatre & Dance Teaching Artistry, Department of Theatre and Dance at Wayne State University, conducts research in the sociology of dance training and education, gender in dance, curriculum theory and policy, social foundations of dance pedagogy, online learning and web-based curriculum design. His books include Stigma and Perseverance in the Lives of Boys Who Dance (2009); Hybrid Lives of Teaching Artists in Dance and Theatre Arts: A Critical Reader (2014); Gender, Sexuality and Identity: Critical Issues in Dance Education (2015): Dance and Gender: An Evidence-Based Approach (2017); Dance, Professional Practice, and the Workplace (2020); and Ethical Dilemmas in Dance Education: Case Studies on Humanizing Dance Pedagogy (2020), which received the 2021 NDEO Ruth Lovell Murray Book Award and the 2021 Susan W. Stinson Book Award in Dance Education.

Risner's most recently published books include Dancing Across the Lifespan: Negotiating Age, Place and Purpose (Musil, Risner, Schupp, 2022) recipient of the 2023 Susan W. Stinson Book Award in Dance Education, and Masculinity, Intersectionality and Identity: Why Boys (Don’t) Dance (Risner & Watson, 2022) recipient of the 2023 Board of Governors Faculty Recognition Award, Wayne State University. His forthcoming book, Dancing Mind, Minding Dance: Socially Relevant and Personally Resonant Dance Education (Routledge 2023), comprises a retrospective collection of his pivotal journal article publications spanning three decades (1992 - 2022).

Risner is Editor-in-Chief Emeritus of the Journal of Dance Education and Associate Editor of the international journal, Research in Dance Education. His extensive research is widely published nationally and internationally. He has choreographed over 50 works, funded in part by the Pennsylvania Council of the Arts, Iowa Arts Council, North Carolina Department of Education, and the George T. and Jutta F. Anderson Foundation. His choreographic work has been honored by the Seven States Choreography Competition, the American College Dance Association, and his alma mater, the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG). Dr. Risner was research advisor for the Lincoln Center Film Society award-winning film, DANSEUR (NuArts Productions) documenting the social challenges young male ballet dancers confront.

Dr. Risner is the recipient of numerous awards including the Board of Governors Distinguished Faculty Fellowship, President’s Excellence in Teaching Award, Outstanding Dance Education Researcher Award and Dance Education Visionary Award from the National Dance Education Organization. The Doug Risner Prize for Emerging Dance Researchers was established in 2016 by the Journal of Dance Education to honor Dr. Risner’s commitment to excellence in research and research education in dance. Dr. Risner received 2021 DanceTeacher magazine's Teacher of the Year Award (Higher Education).