Folklore Deptartment Hero
Folklore and Public Culture
Profile picture of Doug Killingtree

Doug Killingtree

Graduate Teaching Fellow
Instructor of Record
Theatre Arts, Folklore Program
dhk@uoregon.edu
Office: Villard 341
Office Hours: Friday 1-2pm or by appointment.
Research Interests: Adaptation, Structuralism, Character Study, Narratology, folk archetypes, horror narratives, theatre as resistance

Biography

Doug is a concurrent Masters of Arts student in Theatre Arts and Folklore & Public Culture. He holds his BFA in Theatre Arts-Performance from Southern Oregon University and is an award-winning actor and playwright. Outside of the worlds of theatre and folklore, he is a published author and illustrator of LGBTQ+ children's books. He is from Chugiak, Alaska, and currently lives in Eugene, Oregon with his husband and 11yo boxer-ridgeback Harper.

Education

Southern Oregon University, BFA Theatre Arts-Performance (2001-2006)
Oregon State University, Search Advocate Certificate (2020)
University of Oregon, MA Theatre Arts (currently enrolled, 2023-26*)
University of Oregon, MA Folklore & Public Culture (currently enrolled, 2025-26*)

*expected graduation

Research Interests

Doug is interested in Adaptation Studies—including, but not limited to, theatrical contexts. He is interested in exploring the adaptation of character archetypes from European folklore and mythology and what structural narratology can reveal about the evolution of character function as folktales are adapted between mediums. He hopes to apply this approach to an actor-centered practice of character study.

He is fascinated by fear-based narratives on stage, particularly those to do with the monstrous, cosmic, and apocalyptic.

Research

Currently, Doug is engaging in ethnographic research focusing on queer perspectives of the tradition of cross-dressed casting in British pantomime. He is also completing a thesis on applying lessons of 20th century anti-fascist playwrights to contemporary digital contexts.

Teaching

  • Southern Oregon University
    • Script Analysis, Teaching Assistant (2003)
    • Theatre Foundations, Discussion Leader (2004)
    • Theatre Foundations, Discussion Leader (2005)
    • Acting 1, Teaching Assistant (2006)
  • University of Oregon
    • Introduction to Theatre, Teaching Assistant (2023-24)
    • Introduction to Acting, Instructor of Record (2024-present)
    • Movement for the Actor: Embodied Folklore, Instructor of Record (2026)