Cason Murphy, assistant professor of theatre in the Department of Music and Theatre, has become president for the Mid-America Theatre Conference (MATC) upon the resignation of the previous president. Originally elected in 2022 as the vice president, Murphy will serve as president through 2025, after which he will serve one year as immediate past president.
Murphy’s term begins this summer in anticipation of the 2024 MATC annual conference in Madison, Wisconsin. In this role, Murphy will serve as chairperson of the executive committee, and work with the committees, symposia, and other members of the organization to strategize and carry out long-term planning goals for MATC.
Founded in 1979, MATC is one of the preeminent national theatre conferences, dedicated originally to uniting people and organizations within a twelve-state region of Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. Since becoming a nationally-recognized organization in 2012, MATC has sought to produce scholarship on theatrical projects and movements of value to better understand, strengthen, and broaden the influence of theatre across our country through its annual conference, committees, research awards, and chartering of two prestigious journals – Theatre History Studies and Theatre/Practice.
Murphy teaches courses in acting foundations, musical theatre, acting for the camera, script analysis, and introduction to performing arts. He is author of The World at Play: Performance from the Audience’s Perspective, a textbook that offers an audience-oriented view of theatre, dance, music, film, television, podcasting, video gaming, and other emergent contemporary performance forms. Murphy is also the recipient of the 2021 ISU Early Achievement in Teaching Award, the 2021 LAS Cassling Family Faculty Award for Early Achievement in Teaching, 2022 Arts Educator Award from the Ames Community Arts Council, and the 2023 ATHE/KCACTF Prize for Innovative Teaching.