See the attached documents to learn more and apply! 

 

This dissertation presents an oral history of African American stage directors of American mainstream theatre. They are four of many African American directors who are undocumented in the annals of American history as seen in the publication of over two hundred interviews of directors working in American theatres. Drawing on preliminary interviews, conducted by the author, of stage managers, actors and designers of each director, along with articles about each director, a compilation of questions was constructed for the oral history interview. 

This dissertation will show that the director’s staging of the theatrical artwork is a commentary on experience, ideologies, interpretations and representations of the world of the play through the cultural lenses of the director who brings cultural heritage to life through performative art. Each director contributes another dimension to historicizing moments that have not had adequate attention. Scripts and performances directed by these African American directors have been chronicled in African American theatre history books but the cultural processes of ‘making’ of the play and the creating the production, have not. 

Marjorie Moon of The Billie Holiday Theatre; Clinton Turner Davis of the Negro Ensemble Company and co-founder of The Non-Traditional Casting Project; Mabel Robinson of the North Carolina Black Repertory Company; and Woodie King, Jr. of the New Federal Theatre describe the intersectionality of the lived history of African Americans in theatre as early as the National Black Arts/Theatre Movement, and the discrimination that ensues in the lack of documentation of African Americans’ performance in American theatre history. 

The history of African Americans is the history of America and this dissertation begins the journey of inclusion of African American stage directors in American theatre history. 

Dissertation Committee: 

Beverly Bickel, Chair 

Michelle Scott, Co-Chair 

Kimberly Moffitt 

Robert Morrow

Ayanna Thompson 

The public is welcome to observe. 

 

The Dissertation Fellowship is designed to provide doctoral candidates at UMBC an opportunity to devote the necessary concentration and attention towards finishing the writing of their dissertations.  The Fellowship is specifically designed for students with full-time jobs off-campus, for those without any financial support who are making steady progress with their writing, and for whom having additional time and resources would permit them to complete the process more expeditiously.  This Fellowship is not available as an option for students with available graduate assistantship support.

 

The Dissertation Fellowship could provide promising doctoral candidates with financial support so that they may reduce their current obligations and partially offset any reductions in salary or increases in expenses.  No additional work assignments other than work on the dissertation are to be associated with this support. 

 

Priority will be given to students who demonstrate that the Fellowship will allow them the needed time to complete their writing and to make revisions in time to defend the work within a realistic but expeditious time frame.  Awards will be made to students who have demonstrated a commitment to provide at least 20 hours per week for an entire academic semester to writing the dissertation. 

 

Dissertation Fellowship awards are available for Summer 2018. The duration of an award is for one semester.  The maximum level of support for Summer is a total stipend of $3,072.00 per Fellowship plus tuition remission for two credits of 899. 

 

To be considered for a Dissertation Fellowship, the Ph.D. candidate must:

Completed applications may be submitted via email as a single PDF to DFSummer2018@umbc.edu or hand delivered to the Office of the Associate Dean of the Graduate School, Room 208, Administration Building, by 4:30 p.m. A committee consisting of three members of the Graduate School Leadership Team will review applications and announce recipients of the Fellowship by Friday, April 27, 2017.  Selection will be based on the extent of convincing evidence that the award will provide the critical element need to complete the dissertation

Download the 2018 Dissertation Fellowship Application HERE

To RSVP, if you are NOT a UMBC student, please email promisestaff@umbc.edu with the subject "PROF-it April" and include your full name, campus and department. You will have to pay to park at UMBC. For parking information please see: https://parking.umbc.edu/

Free lunch will be provided. Join us to celebrate the new graduates (masters and PhDs) from the PROMISE community, this event is System Wide, 14 schools are invited to attend, please make sure to RSVP every person attending the event. Family and friends are welcomed! Bring your sport gear! 

All PROMISE grads (Master’s and Doctoral) will be celebrated! If you are graduating (December 2017, May 2018), please send an email to promisestaff@gmail.com with the subject “Graduate! – PROMISE Cookout” with your full name, department, and degree obtained so that you can be recognized.

Please RSVP here

We look forward to seeing you.

Best,

PROMISE Team 

Hello Asian Studies Students!

Are you Interested in getting involved on campus but don't know where to start? SGA election season is coming up, and we strongly encourage each and every one of you to run for the various positions available. SGA welcomes students from every discipline because it takes a diverse set of skills to run the show. Candidates Applications are due on the Monday March, 26 at noon, so don't hesitate to submit your application! Feel free to email me at dtrinh1@umbc.edu if you have additional questions, and I hope many of you will run for an SGA position.

https://goo.gl/forms/eyscSQn66Jssomsh2

Thank you,

David Trinh

The LLC has just released the schedule of classes for this coming Fall (see schedule here). Registration begins on April 2nd. Keep in mind that these are the classes offered by our department's faculty and affiliate faculty.

As a reminder, you cannot register for any classes without first obtaining permission from your LLC advisor, so you are encouraged to consult with your advisor in a timely fashion. 

Congratulations, Alyse.

Stauder is the executive director of the Hearing and Speech Agency (HRSA). (http://hasa.org.)

I am Julian Tash, the current president of the Asian Studies Council of Majors (ASCOM). I would like to encourage you to stop by our general body meeting this week in FA 558 South (only accessible by using elevator closest to ENGR building) from noon to 1 this Friday, March 16. I know you all are busy and probably thinking "why ASCOM?" I'll sum up our club in three terms: community, academic opportunities, and professional development.

So, what are you waiting for? Stop by the ASCOM GBM on Friday from noon - 1!

I'm looking forward to seeing you there.

Best,

Julian Tash

ASCOM President