GII Symposium 2026

Theresa Robbins Dudeck, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Theater at Portland State University and co-founder (with Joel Veenstra) of the Global Improvisation Initiative. She is a Fulbright Scholar (Brazil) and considered one of the foremost teachers of Keith Johnstone’s impro system. Theresa serves as Johnstone’s literary executor, is co-director/executive producer of the YouTube docuseries “On Keith: Artists Speaks on Johnstone & Impro," and she wrote the critically praised Keith Johnstone: A Critical Biography (Bloomsbury 2013). She is also co-editor (with Caitlin McClure) of two books on applied improvisation published by Methuen Drama: Applied Improvisation: Leading, Collaborating, and Creating Beyond the Theatre (2018) and The Applied Improvisation Mindset: Tools for Transforming Organizations and Communities (2021). Her articles have been published in The Guardian, American Theatre, Theatre Topics, and other peer-reviewed journals, and have been translated into Portuguese, Swedish, and Japanese. At PSU, Theresa teaches improvisation, theater history, script analysis, and she directs/co-creates several theater and improvised theater events each year, including new plays in development and original improvised formats. Theresa received her PhD in Theater Arts from University of Oregon and is a member of Actors’ Equity and the Screen Actors’ Guild.