Ayanna Thompson
Thompson in 2019
Academic background
Alma materColumbia University (AB)
University of Sussex (MA)
Harvard University (PhD)
ThesisDepicting Race and Torture on the Early Modern Stage
Academic work
DisciplineEnglish
InstitutionsArizona State University

Ayanna Thompson is Regents Professor of English at Arizona State University[1] and Director of the Arizona Center for Medieval & Renaissance Studies (ACMRS).[2][3] She was the 2018–19 president of the Shakespeare Association of America.[4] She specializes in Renaissance drama and issues of race in performance.

Education

Thompson graduated with an A.B. from Columbia University in 1994, where she was a Kluge scholar, and was mentored by Edward Said.[5][6] She won a Marshall Scholarship to study at the University of Sussex, receiving a Masters in 1995.[7][8] She received her PhD from Harvard University in 2001. Her doctoral dissertation was Depicting Race and Torture on the Early Modern Stage.[9]

Career

Thompson was previously an investment banker at Lehman Brothers.[3] Thompson was Professor at Arizona State University 2004-2013 before her appointment at George Washington University.[10][11] Thompson served as a Phi Beta Kappa Visiting Scholar, 2017-2018.[4] She was previously President of the Shakespeare Association of America (2018–19).[12][1]

She currently serves on the boards of the journals Shakespeare Quarterly, Renaissance Drama, and Shakespeare Bulletin. She has served as a member of the Board of Directors for the Association of Marshall Scholars.[13] In 2021 she was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.[14] Thompson is an Associate Scholar and the Chair of the Royal Shakespeare Company's Research Board,[15] and is a member of the Folger Shakespeare Library Board of Governors.[16]

Thompson gave the keynote speech on "Shakespeare and Blackface" at the Shakespeare and Social Justice conference held at the University of Cape Town in association with the University of the Witwatersrand and the Shakespeare Association of Southern Africa in 2019.[17]

As Director of the Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, Thompson is the creator of RaceB4Race, an ongoing conference series and professional network community by and for scholars of color.[18] In 2021, Thompson's center and RaceB4Race received a $3.5m grant from the Mellon Foundation.[19]

Thompson has been described as 'a world-class scholar', an 'accomplished leader', a 'true innovator', and 'a major force'.[3]

Theater work

Ayanna Thompson serves as a consultant and dramaturg for many theater companies and is a Shakespeare Scholar in Residence at The Public Theater in New York.[20]

Productions

Bibliography

  • Blackface – Object Lessons (Bloomsbury 2021)[27]
  • (ed.) The Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare and Race (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 2021)
  • Shakespeare in the Theatre: Peter Sellars (London: The Arden Shakespeare, 2018)[28]
  • Shakespeare, Race and Performance: The Diverse Bard, ed. by Delia Jarrett-Macauley (Abingdon: Routledge, 2017)[29]
  • (ed.) Colorblind Shakespeare: New Perspectives on Race and Performance (London: Routledge, 2016)[30]
  • (Co-authored with Laura Turchi) Teaching Shakespeare With Purpose: A Student-Centred Approach (London: Bloomsbury Arden Shakespeare, 2016)[31]
  • Introduction to Othello, edited by E. A. J. Honigmann (London: Arden Shakespeare, 2016)
  • Passing Strange: Shakespeare, Race, And Contemporary America (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011)[32][33]
  • (Co-edited with Scott Newstok) Weyward Macbeth: Intersections of Race and Performance (London: Palgrave, 2010)
  • Performing Race and Torture on the Early Modern Stage (New York: Routledge, 2008)[34]

References

  1. 1 2 "Arizona State University staff page". Archived from the original on 2019-03-30.
  2. ↑ "About ACMRS Press". ACMRS Press. Retrieved 2020-06-22.
  3. 1 2 3 "Thompson set to transform Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies". ASU Now: Access, Excellence, Impact. 2018-08-27. Retrieved 2020-03-16.
  4. 1 2 "PBK – Behind the Key". www.pbk.org. Retrieved 2020-03-16.
  5. ↑ Boss-Bicak, Shira (November 2004). "John Kluge '37 Invests in the Future With the Kluge Scholars Program". Columbia College Today. Archived from the original on 2020-07-29. Retrieved July 7, 2021.
  6. ↑ klburt (2019-06-07). "Ayanna Thompson, Professor (Literature) and Director, Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies". Department of English. Retrieved 2022-05-26.
  7. ↑ "Alumnae Explore Race, Revenge in Shakespeare | Columbia College Today". www.college.columbia.edu. Retrieved 2020-03-16.
  8. ↑ Anonymous (2021-07-06). "Ayanna Thompson". Department of English. Retrieved 2021-07-07.
  9. ↑ "Depicting race and torture on the early modern stage". hollis.harvard.edu. Retrieved 2020-03-16.
  10. ↑ "Ayanna Thompson". members.pbk.org. Retrieved 2020-03-16.
  11. ↑ klburt (2019-06-07). "Ayanna Thompson, Professor (Literature) and Director, Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies". Department of English. Retrieved 2020-03-16.
  12. ↑ "Shakespeare Association of America | Officers". Retrieved 2020-03-16.
  13. ↑ "Ayanna Thompson – Shakespeare, Race, and the Practical Humanities Symposium". sites.lafayette.edu. Retrieved 2020-03-16.
  14. ↑ "Ayanna Thompson". American Academy of Arts & Sciences. Retrieved 2021-12-08.
  15. ↑ "First performing arts company to get independent research status | Royal Shakespeare Company". www.rsc.org.uk. Retrieved 2021-12-08.
  16. ↑ kcurran (2014-12-15). "Board of Governors". Folger Shakespeare Library. Retrieved 2021-12-08.
  17. ↑ "Shakespeare and Social Justice keynote address by Professor Ayanna Thompson: 5pm, 16 May 2019 | Department of English Literature". www.english.uct.ac.za. Retrieved 2020-06-22.
  18. ↑ "RaceB4Race™ | Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies". acmrs.asu.edu. Retrieved 2020-09-22.
  19. ↑ "ASU center receives grant to expand, diversify premodern critical race scholarship". ASU News. 2021-09-21. Retrieved 2023-03-21.
  20. ↑ "Ayanna Thompson". NPR Training + Diverse Sources Database. Retrieved 2021-12-08.
  21. ↑ "Daniel Craig and Ruth Negga to Star on Broadway in Macbeth, Directed by Sam Gold | TheaterMania". www.theatermania.com. Retrieved 2021-12-08.
  22. ↑ "Suffs". publictheater.org. Retrieved 2021-12-08.
  23. ↑ "Richard III". publictheater.org. Retrieved 2023-04-04.
  24. ↑ "Merry Wives - Free Shakespeare in the Park". publictheater.org. Retrieved 2023-03-21.
  25. ↑ "Lupita Nyong'o & Director Saheem Ali Discuss 'Romeo y Julieta' | All Of It". WNYC. Retrieved 2023-03-21.
  26. ↑ "Free Shakespeare on the Radio: Richard II | WNYC | New York Public Radio, Podcasts, Live Streaming Radio, News". WNYC. Retrieved 2023-03-21.
  27. ↑ bloomsbury.com. "Blackface". Bloomsbury. Retrieved 2021-12-08.
  28. ↑ MacKay, Ellen (2019-05-27). "Recent Studies in Tudor and Stuart Drama". SEL: Studies in English Literature 1500–1900. 59 (2): 429–479. doi:10.1353/sel.2019.0021. ISSN 1522-9270. S2CID 191726266.
  29. ↑ Linton, David (2018-12-07). "Shakespeare, Race and Performance: The Diverse Bard ed. by Delia Jarrett-Macauley (review)". Theatre Notebook. 72 (3): 181–182. ISSN 2051-8358.
  30. ↑ Smith, Ian (2008-09-14). "Colorblind Shakespeare: New Perspectives on Race and Performance (review)". Shakespeare Quarterly. 59 (3): 354–356. doi:10.1353/shq.0.0018. ISSN 1538-3555. S2CID 191586854.
  31. ↑ Bloomsbury.com. "Teaching Shakespeare with Purpose". Bloomsbury Publishing. Retrieved 2020-06-22.
  32. ↑ Royster, Francesca (2013-04-14). "Passing Strange: Shakespeare, Race and Contemporary America by Ayanna Thompson (review)". Comparative Drama. 47 (1): 134–137. doi:10.1353/cdr.2013.0012. ISSN 1936-1637. S2CID 161375989.
  33. ↑ "Mixed Race Studies » Ayanna Thompson". Retrieved 2020-06-22.
  34. ↑ Lamb, Caroline (2011-06-09). "Performing Race and Torture on the Early Modern Stage (review)". Theatre Journal. 63 (2): 299–300. doi:10.1353/tj.2011.0044. ISSN 1086-332X. S2CID 191363234.
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