9. Where 2SLGBTQ+ Research and Theatre Meet with Dr. Tara Goldstein

How can we carve out our own creative pathways that honour but also push against the boundaries set by the institutions we serve?

Dr. Tara Goldstein, our guest today, has spent an entire career paving her own roads as an academic, playwright, and LGBTQ+ activist. Currently serving as Vice Principal of New College at the University of Toronto, Tara’s decades-long career as a professor, teacher educator, and “performed ethnography” researcher has inspired legions of teachers and community educators to make things better for diverse youth and families. 

Tara is also a writer, playwright, and director of Gailey Road Productions in Toronto. Her work sits at the crossroads where “research meets theatre and theatre meets research.” And truly that work is groundbreaking: performed ethnographies like Harriet’s House and Out At School have created space for conversations about gender, sexuality, and schooling where, for decades, there was only silence. Her latest project, The Love Booth and Other Plays, about the American Psychological Association’s removal of homosexuality from its list of mental disorders, will premiere at Toronto Pride in June 2023. 

Tara tours us through these and other landmark moments across her extraordinary career in our conversation today and tells us what’s on the horizon as she approaches another milestone: her retirement. 

Connect with Tara on Twitter: @GaileyRoad

Teaching Writers Speak is a podcast developed by members of the Toronto Writing Project. The Toronto Writing Project—or TWP for short—is made up of teachers and researchers who view writing as a vehicle for change, both in our institutions and in the world at large. 

This episode was produced by Celeste Kirsh, Velta Douglas, and Ty Walkland. Celeste is our editor and Rob Simon, TWP’s director, is our executive producer. Our theme music is by Doug Freisen. 

You can learn more about the Toronto Writing Project, and sign up for our upcoming writing workshops and speakers series, by visiting www.torontowritingproject.com.