There are endless adages, quotes, stories, songs, poetry, and artwork about courage.
It is something people have been trying to understand, define, and explain across generations and cultures the world over. There may be a general sense of what it is, but it’s something often experienced and expressed in different ways.
Amir Marvasti’s deep dive into the complex concept began with an interaction between his daughter and his grandfather-in-law, Roy C. McKinney Sr., a World War II veteran who was awarded a Purple Heart during the Battle of the Bulge.
For a middle school project, Marvasti’s daughter interviewed McKinney and asked him about the most courageous thing he did during the war. He answered simply, “Not get killed.”
After listening to this exchange, Marvasti got curious about courage.
He thought about his personal history as an Iranian immigrant to the United States in 1983, which allowed him to pursue an education and avoid being drafted into a war between Iran and Iraq.
“I wondered if it was cowardice to flee the war, or if I had been courageous to leave and start a new life in a new country.”
It was a question that continued to intrigue him through the years even as a broader one grew in his mind. He wanted to know how other people viewed courage, what they considered courageous. He wanted to know their stories of nerve and bravery.
A professor of sociology, Marvasti conducts research on a wide range of topics. Often beginning with a personal perspective or insight, Marvasti follows common threads to weave together universally shared experiences between people. These questions about courage fit perfectly with his research interests.
He began collecting data in 2012 and continued throughout 2013. One method included asking students enrolled in a small northeastern university to write personal essays. He didn’t want analytical, research, or definition papers. He wanted narratives about a time these students believed they showed courage.
He received essays from about 70 participants. “I was impressed by the range of stories, from physical acts to emotional acts to those about people trying to do the right thing in difficult circumstances.”
As Marvasti began exploring publication options for his research based on the essays, he was surprised at the direction he found himself taking.
He says researchers become very intimate with their data because they must spend so much time with it, reading through and mining it. “As I read the stories repeatedly, I started to visualize the storytellers and hear their unique voices and styles. Some of them are really engaging. They're exciting, they're funny, and they're also very insightful.”
By the nature of the assignment the student submissions were already in narrative form, practically scripts.
“So, I started to think, why not actually bring them to life on a stage?”
Marvasti took his idea to Penn State Altoona’s theatre department in 2022, but the timing wasn’t quite right for all of the pieces to come together.
The project finally got some wheels under it in fall 2025 when Marvasti was connected with Things Unseen Theatre, a local production company.
Veronica Berry takes the stage during a performance of "Stories of Courage" at Things Unseen Theatre.
Emily Evey was a volunteer at the company then. With her degree in theatre, communication, and social justice, she was drawn to the possibilities for the project. “I’m passionate about using applied theatre as a tool to share real stories,” she says.
She explains that applied theatre is a wide field of theatre techniques used outside of traditional stages to address social issues, promote healing, foster education, and drive social change within communities. “Many times, the end result helps communities make progress toward collective justice and conflict resolution.”
Serving as playwright and director, Evey assembled a production crew and cast to create a staged reading. They read through the essays and selected pieces for inclusion which were then edited for confidentiality and length and put in a logical order by theme.
"Stories of Courage" premiered in November 2025 with a run of three shows.
Marvasti had been consulted throughout the process but did not see the finished product until opening night. He points out that showing up for the performance was an act of courage on his part. After all, courage requires a willingness to lean into uncertainty, risk, and emotional exposure.
“It was exciting, but nerve-wracking at the same time. In my business, when you submit a paper, you wait months for blind reviews. But this was in real time with people who may not like it right in front of me. The emotional investment is different with something like this.”
But Marvasti says it appears to have been well-received, and he was impressed with the work and dedication of Evey and her team. “I could tell they worked really hard, and I am grateful for what they accomplished.”
The "Stories of Courage" cast (left to right): Marci Urban, Michael Merschiltz, Sherry Dilling, and Veronica Berry.
Seeing "Stories of Courage" as a theatre piece shifted the way Marvasti looks at some of his current research and research ideas.
He says most of his research is published, read by a small group of people, and except for the occasional citation, largely forgotten about, the stories lost.
But now, he has a new way to produce some of his work and a new platform with which to deliver it. He believes theatre can reach audiences that have no reason to pick up a journal or scholarly book. He also thinks seeing stories played out on a stage could make them more memorable than as words on a page.
Marvasti is looking forward to other opportunities theatre affords.
“It's a new realm, and it’s exciting to think about collaborating with others. The publication process is solitary and impersonal in some ways, but working with a director and theatre crew will be much more intimate and creative.”
Perhaps most importantly to Marvasti is creating conversation and connection between people. He sees "Stories of Courage" and further theatre projects as ways to unite people, believing the kinds of stories he has to share will resonate with anybody from anywhere. “They show us a common humanity and our common struggles with the things we're trying to make sense of in our lives. This opens space for people to validate and share their own experiences. Sharing our stories brings us closer as people.”
“I love doing this work, and this experience has shown me that I need to do more of it,” adds Evey.“People who worked on and came to see Amir's collected research onstage walked away with a broader, more meaningful understanding of courage. I hope the performances allowed people to go about day-to-day life with more courage themselves and more empathy towards others’ experiences.”
Amir Marvasti (far right) sits onstage with the "Stories of Courage" cast after a performance for discussion with the audience.
