Dr. Jim DeVivo is a teacher of Theatre at William R. Satz Intermediate School and Holmdel High School. He specializes in the development of new theatrical works by and for youth and his research interests include history and critique of theatre for young audiences, theatre history, and new play development. Jim’s research is published in Youth Theatre Journal and ArtsPraxis. He created the Young Playwrights Guide blog as a resource for student writers and is also a contributing writer for Creativity and Education.
Prior to his current position, Jim was Director of Education for Writers Theatre of New Jersey where he also taught playwriting and devising workshops and produced the annual New Jersey Young Playwrights Festival. He has also taught at Manhattanville College, Monmouth University, and Middlesex County College, and led playwriting and arts integration workshops for teachers across the tri-state area. Jim’s background in curriculum and assessment includes service on the advisory boards for both the Middlesex County Vocational Technical High School of the Arts and the Union County Academy for Performing Arts and as a consultant for the vocational theatre exit exams through the NJ Department of Education. In 2017, Jim developed the inaugural playwriting program for New Jersey Thespians, the state chapter of the International Thespian Society / Educational Theatre Association.
Jim was awarded the Lowell S. and Nancy Swortzell Graduate Scholarship (2008), a NJ Governor’s Award for Arts Education (2009), and an Award of Excellence from the NJ Theatre Alliance (2018), and is a member of the Liverpool Central School District Fine Arts Hall of Fame.
He holds PhD and MA degrees in Educational Theatre from NYU and graduated magna cum laude with University Honors from Niagara University with a dual major BFA in Theatre and English.