When he was an undergraduate political science student, Kerry Haynie was never taught about the 1921 Tulsa massacre. Nor was there much discussion about the role of race in the founding political documents of this country or much examination of how race influenced public services such as sewer lines and zoning.In one sense, a lot has changed. In 2021, Duke’s faculty includes a strong lineup of leading scholars who examine how race is embedded in issues that cross all the schools of the university. This fall, many of these… read more about University Course Raises Race as a Central Element of Undergraduate Education »
This month we feature a collection of Duke-authored books that explore historical and current aspects of music in the United States and beyond. These books, along with many others written by Duke authors, are available at Duke University Libraries, the Gothic Bookshop or the Regulator Bookshop. The Song is You by Bradley Rogers Musicals, it is often said, burst into song and dance when mere words can no longer convey… read more about 10 Books About Music from Duke Authors »
The "Broadway Bodies" Conversation Moves to Center Stage WNYC A short sentence in a recent New York Times article about Broadway actors returning to stages this fall has ignited a conversation about body expectations, fat phobia, and race in the professional acting world. Ryan Donovan joined WNYC host Michael Hill for a conversation. "The theater industry is really unique in that the way that you look can determine whether you are even considered for being hired right when you walk in the door,"… read more about Faculty News: Ryan Donovan discusses casting practices »
The Department of Theater Studies mourns the loss of Doug Martelon, who served as Theater Operations manager at Duke for 25 years. He left Duke in 2012 to devote his time and talent to The Summit Church. Doug passed away on May 6, 2021, from COVID-19 complications. He is survived by his wife, Trena, and a son, Nicholas. “Doug was my collaborator at Duke, and my friend for over 25 years,” said Professor of the Practice and former Department Chair Jeff Storer. “He was a kind, gentle man who was courageous… read more about Remembering Theater Operations manager Doug Martelon »
The National Science Foundation presents the Alan Waterman Award, the government’s highest honor for an early career scientist or engineer, to only two researchers every year. This year, both winners are part of the Duke community. The award will be shared by Nicholas Carnes, the Creed C. Black Associate Professor of Public Policy and Political Science in the Sanford School of Public Policy, and Duke alumna Melanie Wood, a mathematician at Harvard University. Both will receive a five-year $1 million research grant. Duke… read more about Duke Faculty Member, Alumna Win Nation's Highest Honor for Early-Career Scientists and Engineers »
The Department of Theater Studies at Duke University recently presented six undergraduates with awards celebrating ongoing achievements in the discipline. Awards and recipients: Harold Brody Award for Excellence in Musical Theater awarded to Multy Oliver Recognizes accomplishments in musical theater by students in the Department of Theater Studies, the Department of Music, or the student-run musical theater group Hoof 'n' Horn. The award was established by an alumnus with a deep affection for and… read more about Theater Studies Annual Awards »
The Brooklyn Art Song Society's inaugural New Voices Festival brings the start of an essential event for modern song. The festival takes the tradition that created countless masterpieces and re-imagines it for the 21st century. Fifteen works by living composers, half of them world premiers, reflect on the past and look toward the future. Jody McAuliffe translated three Russian poems for New Voices II which will be performed on May 15, 2021. Read more. read more about Jody McAuliffe's Translations Part of Brooklyn Art Song Society Performance »
DukeArts spoke with Duke seniors and Theater Studies majors Ash Jeffers and María Zurita Ontiveros about their paths to theater, and how they are leading the production of MEDEA – the first mainstage Theater Studies production with students at its helm. Read the full article at DukeArts. read more about Medea Would Not Be Denied »
A March 24 panel discussion in response to the increase of violence against people of Asian descent, including the mass shootings in Atlanta earlier this month, attracted more than 670 Duke faculty, staff and students. Moderated by Nayoung Aimee Kwon, the online event featured presentations on the historical context of anti-Asian violence from Susan Thananopavarn, Eileen Chow and Esther Kim Lee. Syllabus on Asian-American History and Culture In response to recent acts of violence against Asian Americans stemming from a… read more about The History of Violence Against Asian Americans »
Summer Session I (May 12-June 21) THEATRST 145S-01 ACTING MTuWThF 11:00AM - 12:15PM Jeff Storer Codes: AL; CCI SYNCHORNOUS ONLINE Using the writings of Sarah Ruhl, Qui Nguyen, August Strindberg, Konstantin Stanislavsky, Suzan Lori-Parks, Anna Deavere Smith, Caryl Churchill, Anne Bogart and Jose Rivera students will explore the fundamentals of acting realism through assigned readings, writing prompts, performance exercises, scene study, and text analysis. A balance between… read more about Summer Session I & II »
KARI BARCLAY, Theater Studies '16, has been named the winner of the inaugural So.Queer Playwrights’ Festival, sponsored by the Richmond, VA, Triangle Players. Read the full story in the Stanford News >>> read more about Kari Barclay (TS '16) Wins So.Queer Playwrights’ Festival »
Part of our “Art and Artists are Essential” collection and invitation. “I started writing music over winter break from home. I met Robbie Rosen, a producer and American Idol finalist, who helped me write original songs for the first time! This is a song about being stuck between two places, and I think every Duke student has felt this in some capacity, especially during the pandemic. We were back in our hometowns for longer than we are used to, and many of us are questioning where we feel most at home. I feel really… read more about Sophia Roth ‘22: “Between Two Worlds” »
The Department of Theater Studies at Duke University in Durham, NC invites applications for an Artist in Residence to begin July 2021. This full-time, one-year position is intended for a recent graduate of an MFA program (2019 or later preferred) in either Acting or Directing; the position requires an MFA at the time of hire along with membership in AEA, SAG-AFTRA, or SDC. Job duties will include a 2/1 teaching load in small laboratory-based acting classes as well as ancillary coaching in the successful candidate’s areas of… read more about Job Announcement: Artist in Residence »
Duke baseball player Ollie McCarthy pens an article in UNCUT discussing how he was able to juggle athletics and the acting bug. "I dreamt of acting in serious productions; however, as an athlete, it seemed like a distant dream," he wrote. Read more. read more about Lights, Camera, Action »
The Department of Theater Studies at Duke University in Durham, NC invites applications and nominations for an open-rank Visiting Professor or an Instructor to begin July 2021. The field is Musical Theater. This full-time, one-year position requires a PhD in Theater History or a related field at the time of hire. The 2/2 teaching load will include both scholarly and laboratory-based classes in musical theater, so the ability to bridge theory to practice is essential; the ability to teach a more general… read more about Job Announcement: Visiting Professor or Instructor/Musical Theater »
The Department of Theater Studies at Duke University in Durham, NC invites applications for a Visiting Professor or an Instructor to begin July 2021. The field is Acting. This full-time, one-year position requires an MFA or related terminal degree in the field at the time of hire. The 2/2 teaching load will include small laboratory-based courses in stage acting and Black theater and performance; the ability to teach screen acting or to direct productions would be an asset. If hired as a Visiting Professor, the successful… read more about Job Announcement: Visiting Professor or Instructor/Acting »
FINDING CREATIVE WAYS TO ENSURE THE SHOW GOES ON While the pandemic has changed the way Duke’s Theater Studies Department works, it hasn’t derailed the group’s creative spirit. Over three nights in November of last year, eight students – six of them actors - from Duke and North Carolina Central University joined with artists from the Durham community to produced “Citizen: An American Lyric” for an audience that watched online. “The students really appreciated how incredible it was to be in person and… read more about Dedicated Devils: Rising to the Challenge During COVID-19 »
In this interview, Chaz Hawkins ’17, screenwriter at Heroes and Villains Entertainment, shares his experience as a Duke student, discusses his transition into the film industry, and offers advice for students interested in pursuing careers in creative industries. Recently, his screenplay “The Sauce” was selected for this year’s The Black List, an annual survey of the “most-liked” motion picture screenplays that have not yet been produced. What are 2-3 ways your Duke experience helped prepare you for your current career role… read more about Q&A with Chaz Hawkins ‘17, Screenwriter at Heroes and Villains Entertainment »
It’s been a busy three years at Duke for Theater Studies Professor Esther Kim Lee. Along with her appointment in Theater, she holds positions in International Comparative Studies and Asian American and Diaspora Studies—and she was the faculty director for the Focus Program’s new Immigration and Citizenship cluster for the fall semester. The Focus Program (FOCUS) allows first-year, first-semester students to study a topic from multiple perspectives through interdisciplinary clusters of no more than 18 students. “… read more about FOCUS on Asian American Experiences Through Performance »
Do you still need a course for Spring? We have several classes for you to consider—including the newly added Shakespeare Studio. Questions? Please contact: coco.wilder@duke.edu. Shakespeare Studio | THEATRST 246S (Newly added) on-campus and online F 10:15am-12:45pm Instructor: Avery Glymph In addition to his extensive stage work on numerous Shakespeare productions, Avery Glymph has appeared in various films and television shows including Bull (upcoming), Law & Order,… read more about Spring Course Spotlight »
Last year, five Duke University faculty members set out to build skills and add new dimensions to their work. In these excerpts from their Faculty Teaching/Research Enhancement Grants (FTREG) reports, they share what they undertook and how these experiences will help them and their students. Improvisation Jody McAuliffe, Theater Studies and Slavic & Eurasian Studies, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences I took the Summer Intensive in improvisation offered at the iO Theater in Chicago. Widely considered the premier… read more about Five Scholars Find Creative Ways to Strengthen Their Research and Teaching »
Audition for the Theater Studies Spring Mainstage: MEDEA Directed as a senior distinction project by Maria Zurita Ontiveros and designed by Ash Jeffers November 7 and November 8, 4:00-7:00pm via Zoom. Follow this link for more info on how to audition, sides, and signups: http://bit.ly/MainstageMedea About MEDEA, by Euripides: This is a border zone, with Corinth a thriving place but poverty and loss beyond its walls. Medea, an immigrant who abandoned her family and her homeland to follow… read more about Auditions for Spring Mainstage: MEDEA »
As part of its event series tgiFHI, the Franklin Humanities Institute is conducting interviews with its faculty speakers in order to familiarize broader audiences with the diversity of research approaches in the humanities, arts, and interpretive social sciences at Duke University. Dr. Darren Gobert is the William and Sue Gross Professor of Theater Studies and Professor of English. In this edited and condensed interview, he describes the process of reconstructing and imagining the unknowable in performance studies… read more about Meet Your Humanities Faculty: Darren Gobert »
Years ago, Theater Studies Professor Neal Bell was asked to do a complete screenplay overhaul of a horror movie being shot in Toronto. The director, who shared a similar theater background, remembered that Bell was a horror buff, so he flew him to Canada to see the finished movie sets (mainly those of a shady hospital). Then, the producers informed him that he had a mere two weeks to write a completed screenplay. While Bell always loved movies, he’d never written a screenplay—so he pulled a 14-day version of an all-nighter… read more about Here, There Be Monsters »
Years ago, Theater Studies Professor Neal Bell was asked to do a page-one rewrite (or complete screenplay overhaul) of a horror movie being shot in Toronto. The director, who shared a similar theater background, remembered that he was a horror buff, so he flew Bell to Canada to see the finished movie sets (mainly those of a shady hospital). Then, the producers informed him that he had a mere two weeks to write a completed screenplay. While Bell always loved movies, he’d never written a… read more about Bell Examines the Quality of Writing That Goes into the Films that Scare Us »