CBU Professor Shauna MacDonald Recognized with National Distinguished Service Award

Dr. Shauna MacDonald, Associate Professor in the Department of Communication and Languages at Cape Breton University, has been named the recipient of the 2025 Distinguished Service Award from the Performance Studies Division of the National Communication Association (NCA).

The Distinguished Service Award is the highest honour presented by the Performance Studies Division and recognizes sustained leadership, mentorship and service to the discipline. Dr. MacDonald was nominated by colleagues and selected by the Division in recognition of more than two decades of contributions to Performance Studies scholarship, teaching and professional service.

Based in the United States, the National Communication Association serves scholars across the Americas and works to advance communication scholarship, teaching and practice. Performance Studies is a subdiscipline of Communication Studies that examines embodied communication and performance as objects of inquiry, methods of research and modes of artistic expression.

“This award is, at its core, a recognition of academic service,” says Dr. MacDonald. “It honours the often unseen work that helps sustain disciplines and the communities within them. I take pride in contributing to the growth and care of Performance Studies as a field and I hope to continue serving as an ambassador for this work.”

Dr. MacDonald has played a significant leadership role within the Performance Studies Division, including serving as vice-chair elect, division planner and chair. From 2017 to 2020, she helped guide the Division through conference planning, awards coordination and legislative representation within the NCA. Colleagues have noted her thoughtful leadership and support during periods of transition and challenge within the discipline.

In addition to her service work, Dr. MacDonald has published in Text and Performance Quarterly, the Division’s flagship journal, and other related publications. Her creative scholarship includes a solo performance titled To Catch and To Keep, which explores lighthouse keeping, women keepers throughout history and her family’s lighthouse legacy. Her lighthouse research has been featured in multiple media outlets, including PBS.

Dr. MacDonald has taught Performance Studies since 2007, mentoring students and emerging scholars during her graduate studies at Southern Illinois University, her time at Villanova University and now at Cape Breton University. She continues to integrate performance-based research and teaching into her work at CBU.

“Performance Studies helps us understand communication in ways that extend beyond traditional frameworks,” she said. “It asks us to pay attention to bodies, spaces, stories and cultural practices that shape how people experience the world.”

Dr. MacDonald continues to bring this service-oriented approach to her work at Cape Breton University, where she teaches Performance Studies and mentors students interested in embodied communication, creative scholarship and community-engaged research. Her work reflects a commitment to sustaining academic disciplines not only through research and publication, but through care, leadership and mentorship.

The Distinguished Service Award recognizes the cumulative impact of that commitment. For Dr. MacDonald, it affirms the value of academic service as essential to both scholarly communities and the broader culture they influence.

Congratulations to Dr. MacDonald on this national recognition!