Education

University of Wisconsin-Madison
  • Ph.D.: Theatre and Drama, May 2001 
  • Minor: Film Studies
Northern Illinois University
  • MA: Theatre Arts, May 1996
CUNY-Hunter College
  • BA: English, January 1993, magna cum laude
  • Minor: Theatre

Areas of Specialization
Theater History, Dramatic Literature, 20th Century Theatre Theory and Criticism (American, British, Irish)

Areas of Concentration
Playwriting, Directing, American Feminist Theatre, Theatre of the Holocaust, African-American Theatre History, Irish Theatre, Acting (Meisner), Shakespeare, Brecht, O’Neill, Stage Management, American and European Film History, Classical Film Criticism

Teaching

Professor August (2015), University of Alabama
  • Script Analysis (500 level seminar) Fall, 2015, Fall 2018
  • Playwriting (400 and 500 level) Spring 2016, Spring 2019
  • Theatre History I (400 and 500 level survey) Fall 2015, Fall 2016, Fall 2017, Fall 2018, Fall 2019
  • Theatre History II (400 and 500 level survey) Spring 2016, Spring 2017, Spring 2019
  • American Feminist Theatre (TH 400 and 500 level) Fall 2017
  • Contemporary Drama (500 level) Fall 2016, Fall 2019
  • Greek and Roman Drama (500 level) Spring 2017
  • Shakespeare in Performance (EN 667, co-taught with Dr. Michelle Dowd) Spring 2017, Spring 2019

Associate Professor (tenured August 2008), University of Alabama
Assistant Professor, University of Alabama
  • Theatre History I and II (400, 500 levels), Fall 2002-Spring 2008 (Distance Education, GoArmy) Fall 2003-Spring 2008
  • European Theatre History Since 1850 (400, 500 levels), Spring 2003, Spring 2007
  • Introduction to Theatre (100 level), Fall 2002-Spring 2008, (eArmy, GoArmy) Fall 2003-Summer 2008
  • Voice and Diction (100 level), Summer 2003, Summer 2004
  • Script Analysis (400, 500 levels), Fall 2003, Fall 2006
  • Playwriting (400,500 levels), Spring 2004, Spring 2006, Spring 2008
  • Dramatic Theory and Criticism (500 level), Fall 2004, Fall 2007
  • American Theatre History and Literature (500 level), Spring 2005
  • Contemporary Drama (500 level), Fall 2005
  • Radio Scriptwriting (New College, 400 level), Fall 2005-Spring 2007

Visiting Assistant Professor, Allegheny College
  • Playwriting (300 level), Fall 2001
  • Theatre History I and II (400 level), Spring 2002, Fall-Spring 2000-2001
  • Introduction to Theatre (100 level), Spring 2002, Fall, 2000
  • Fundamentals of Acting (100 level), Fall 2001, Spring 2001
  • Cultural Narratives: Sophomore Writing Course (200 level), Fall 2001,

Senior Lecturer, University of Wisconsin-Madison
  • Stage Management (300 level), Fall 1999 – Spring 2000

Senior Lecturer, Wisconsin Memorial Union: Mini Course
  • Playwriting, Spring 1999, Fall 1999-Spring 2000

Teaching Assistant, University of Wisconsin-Madison
  • Stage Management (300 level), Norma Saldivar, Fall-Spring 1998-99
  • Introduction to Dramatic Art (100 level), Barbara Clayton, Fall 1996 – Spring 1999

Teaching Assistant, Northern Illinois University
  • Introduction to Theatre (100 level), John Hancock Brooks, Spring 1995
  • Playwriting (400 level), S. Alan Chesler, Fall 1994

Conferences

  • Conference Papers and Presentations
  • “Dramatic Theatre History Redux: A Key Exchange” (panel), Southeastern Theatre Conference (SETC), Mobile, AL, March 2014.
  • “Snippets: New Works from SETC Playwrights” (presenter), Southeastern Theatre Conference (SETC), Mobile, AL, March 2014.
  • “Stanislavski in Ireland: Deirdre O’Connell and the Focus Theatre 1963-2013”, (presenter), Southeastern Theatre Conference (SETC), Mobile, AL, March 2014.
  • “The Missing Link” by Robert Plowman, winner Charles M. Getchell New Play Award, (director of staged reading), Southeastern Theatre Conference (SETC), Mobile, AL 2014.
  • “The Past is Prologue: Practicing Theory and History” (panel), Southeastern Theatre Conference (SETC), Louisville, KY, March 2013.
  • “Dramatic Theatre History: The Key Plays” (panel), Southeastern Theatre Conference (SETC), Louisville, KY, March 2013.
  • “Approaches to Teaching Classical Greek Theatre and Athenian Democracy” (paper/panel), ATHE Conference, Washington, DC August 2012.
  • UA Symposium: Teaching Holocaust and Genocide Studies (panel). University of Alabama, April 2012.
  • “Sensitivity and Reconceptualization: Responsibilities of the Director in Non-Traditional Casting” (panel). Southeastern Theatre Conference (SETC), Chattanooga, TN, March 2012.
  • “Cutting the Words of Dead Playwrights” (panel). Southeastern Theatre Conference (SETC), Chattanooga, TN March 2012.
  • “Wrights vs Writes: Teaching Playwriting” (panel co-presentation). Southeastern Theatre Conference (SETC), Atlanta, GA March 2011.
  • “Historical Invisibility: The Struggles for Class Identity in the Early Dramas of A.P. Wilson (paper). International Conference on Fine and Performing Arts, Athens Institute for Education and Research (ATINER), Athens, Greece, June 2010.
  • “Creative Imagination and Radio in the 21st Century” (co-presentation). Creativity and Play Across the Disciplines. Association for Integrative Studies Conference, Tuscaloosa, AL, October 2009.
  • “Was” by Jamie Brandl: A Showcase of Scripts (performer). New Play Development Workshop, ATHE Conference, New York City August 2009.
  • “Here’s a Marvellous Place for Our Rehearsal: Grassroots Shakespeare and the Community” (panel presentation). SETC 2009 Conference, Birmingham, AL, March 2009.
  • “Prisoners of the Tree: The American Eden in the Plays of Lee Blessing” (paper). Stranmillis University College Residency Lecture, Belfast, Northern Ireland, October 2008.
  • “Engaging the Masses: Methods for Enlivening Theatre Appreciation and Intro to Theatre Courses” (panel presentation). SETC 2008 Conference, Chattanooga, TN, March 2008.
  • “Nobody”: staged reading of Charles M. Getchell award-winning play (director). SETC 2008 Conference, Chattanooga, TN March 2008.
  • “When Satire More than Closed on Saturday Night: Henry Fielding and the Licensing Act of 1737” (paper). SETC 2008 Conference, Chattanooga, TN, March 2008. 
  • “When Satire More than Closed on Saturday Night: Henry Fielding and the Licensing Act of 1737” (paper).Theatre Symposium 2007 Conference, Morgantown, West Virginia, April, 2007.
  • “Historical Invisibility: The Vexatious A.P. Wilson and the Abbey Theatre”, (paper). Theatre and History: ATHE Conference, New Orleans, 2007.
  • “Re-Imagining Theatre History: Innovative Approaches to Theatre History Pedagogy” (panel). Theatre as a Liberal Art: ATHE Conference, New Orleans, 2007.
  • “Historical Invisibility: The Struggles for Class Identity in the Early Dramas of A.P. Wilson” (paper/working panel). Theatre and Cultural Identities Working Group, Inaugural Conference of the Irish Society for Theatre Research, Queen’s University, Belfast Northern Ireland, April 2007.
  • Ten-Minute Play Festival (co-dramaturg). Southeast Theatre Conference, Birmingham 2009, Chattanooga 2008; Atlanta, 2007; Orlando 2006; Greensboro 2005.
  • “Prisoners of the Tree: Crises of Conscience in the Theatre of Lee Blessing,” (paper). Hawai’i International Conference on Arts & Humanities, Honolulu, January 2006.
  • “Intensifying the Light: Harold Pinter’s Post-Holocaust Theatre,” (paper). Pinter and Politics (panel co-ordinator). Midwest/Modern Language Association November 2005.
  • “Historical Invisibility: Andrew P. Wilson and the Early Irish Theatre” (paper). Hawai’i International Conference on Arts & Humanities, Honolulu, January 2005.
  • “(Re)Forming Theatre History Pedagogy for the 21st Century: An Examination/Debate on Leaving Brockett” (co-presenter). Southeast Theatre Conference, Greensboro, NC March 2005.
  • “Reaching the Multitude: Teaching Strategies for the Large Lecture Theatre Course” (co-presenter). Southeast Theatre Conference, Greensboro, NC March 2005.
  • Leadership Initiative. Vice Chair: History/Literature/Criticism Committee. Southeast Theatre Conference, Chattanooga, TN, March 2004.
  • “Tragedy in the Age of Irony,” Trauma, Tragedy, and the Transformation of Dramatic Forms (Panel). Theatre and History, ATHE Conference, New York, August 2003.
  • “Rejecting Anne’s Shadow: The Holocaust and American Dramatists,” (paper). Southeast Theatre Conference, Arlington, VA, March 2003.
  • “(Re)Positioning the Tragic Muse,” Modern Drama Panel, Chair. “Larkin and Connolly How are Ye?: (Re)Dressing the Belfast Theatre’s Memory of Its Radical Labor Past,” Performing Ulster Panel, (paper). Central New York Conference on Language and Literature, SUNY- Cortland, Oct., 2002.
  • “Sites of Dislocation: The Savage Satire of Arthur Schnitzler,” Modern Drama (paper). Chair - Modern Irish Drama Panel: “Mirror Up To Nation: Irish Identity and Drama”. Central New York Conference on Language and Literature, SUNY-Cortland, Oct., 2001.
  • Academic Roadshow: “Sex” (performer). Performance, ATHE Conference, Chicago 2001.
  • “The Politics of Falling Between the Cracks: Irish Identity from the Margins in the Plays of Thomas Kilroy and Sebastian Barry,” Modern Irish Drama Panel (paper). Central New York Conference on Language and Literature, SUNY-Cortland, Oct. 2000.
  • “Collaborative Creations” (panel). Directing, ATHE Conference, Washington, DC 2000.
  • “The Star Turned Red: O’Casey’s Experimental Drama at the Millennium” (paper). Theatre and History, ATHE Conference, Toronto, July 1999.
  • “The Choice Between Evil and Evil: Jacob Gens in Joshua Sobol’s Vilna Triptych” (paper). Humanities Lecture, Allegheny College, September 2001.
  • “The Choice Between Evil and Evil: Jacob Gens in Joshua Sobol’s Vilna Triptych” (paper). International Scholars’ Conference on the Holocaust, Seattle March 1998.
  • “The Choice Between Evil and Evil: Jacob Gens in Joshua Sobol’s Vilna Triptych” (paper). Theory and Criticism, ATHE Conference, Chicago August 1997.

Service

  • Alabama State Council for the Arts (grants), 2011-
  • American Society for Theatre Research (ASTR), 1999-
  • Association for Theatre in Higher Education (ATHE), 1996- 
  • Nominating Committee, ATHE, 2007-2008
  • Harold Pinter Society, 2002-
  • International Federation for Theatre Research (IFTR), 2006-
  • Irish Society for Theatre Research (ISTR), 2007-
  • Southeast Theatre Conference (SETC), 2002-
  • Playwriting Committee-Chair, SETC, 2008-
  • History/Theory/Criticism/Literature Committee-Chair, SETC, 2005-2007
  • Ten-Minute Play Festival Committee, SETC, 2005
  • Secondary Playwriting Committee, SETC, 2004-
  • History/Theory/Criticism/Literature Committee, SETC, 2003-
  • Publications Committee, SETC, 2006-2009
  • Faculty Senate, University of Alabama, 2009-
  • Research Grants Committee, University of Alabama, 2012-
  • Libraries Committee, University of Alabama, 2012-
  • Parking and Traffic Committee, University of Alabama, 2010-2013
  • Faculty Life Committee, University of Alabama, 2009-2012
  • Undergraduate Programs and Services Committee, University of Alabama, 2011-2013
  • Tenure and Retention Committee, Department of Theatre and Dance, 2008-
  • Committee for Undergraduate Learning, University of Alabama, 2005-2008
  • Dissertation Committee: Kevin Crawford (English Dept.), University of Alabama, 2003-05, Hugh Sheehy (English Dept.), University of Alabama, 2006, Alaina Jobe (English Dept.) University of Alabama, 2009, Jessica Hollander (English Dept.), UA, 2011, Ben Fuqua (English Dept.) UA, 2011, Jeremy Ekberg (English Dept.) UA, 2011, Robin Miceli (French Dept.) ,UA, 2011, Sarah Phillips (English Dept.) UA, 2012, Alexandra Ferretti (English Dept.) UA, 2014, Nicholas Helms (English Dept. ) UA, 2014
  • Search Committee, Department of Theatre and Dance, University of Alabama, 2003, 2005-2006
  • Departmental Liaison to Gorgas Library Acquisitions, University of Alabama, 2002-
  • Curriculum Committee, College of Liberal Arts, Northern Illinois University, 1995

residency

Stranmillis College, Belfast, Northern Ireland (Oct. 2008): lectures on American theatre; panel discussion on dramatic adaptations from novels; workshop reading of new play adaptation of Melville’s Moby Dick.

Honors

  • Reception by President Michael Higgins and First Lady Sabina Coyne Higgins at Aras an Uachtarain (Irish White House) to Honor Brian McAvera (my co-editor) and me for our two books published about Irish theatre, Stanislavski in Ireland and Breaking Boundaries, September 2013
  • The Other Club Award, “Outstanding Faculty,” Tappings and Awards Ceremony, University of Alabama, April 2006
  • Ronald Mitchell Award, Spring, 1999, Spring, 1998. University of Wisconsin-Madison
  • Fredric March Award, Spring 1997. University of Wisconsin-Madison
  • Mary M. Fay Poetry Award, Spring 1992, CUNY-Hunter College