Ayanna Thompson
Ayanna Thompson | |
|---|---|
| Alma mater | Columbia University (A.B., 1994), University of Sussex (M.A., 1995), Harvard University (PhD, 2001) |
| Occupation(s) | Regents Professor in English, Director of the Arizona Center for Medieval & Renaissance Studies |
| Years active | 2004–present |
| Employer | Arizona State University |
| Known for | Scholarship on Renaissance drama and race in theatrical performance; presidency of the Shakespeare Association of America (2018–19) |
Ayanna Thompson holds the position of Regents Professor in English at Arizona State University and directs the Arizona Center for Medieval & Renaissance Studies (ACMRS). She was president of the Shakespeare Association of America during 2018–19 and focuses her scholarship on Renaissance drama and the representation of race in theatrical performance.
Education
Thompson completed her A.B. at Columbia University in 1994, where she was recognized as a Kluge scholar and received mentorship from Edward Said. Awarded a Marshall Scholarship, she pursued a Master’s degree at the University of Sussex, finishing in 1995. Her doctoral studies culminated with a PhD from Harvard University in 2001, presenting a dissertation entitled Depicting Race and Torture on the Early Modern Stage.
Career
Before entering academia, Thompson worked as an investment banker at Lehman Brothers. She held a faculty role at Arizona State University from 2004 until 2013, after which she joined George Washington University, eventually returning to the Phoenix region. Between 2017 and 2018, she was a Phi Beta Kappa Visiting Scholar and later led the Shakespeare Association of America as President (2018–19).
Currently, Thompson serves on the editorial boards of Shakespeare Quarterly, Renaissance Drama, and Shakespeare Bulletin. She has also contributed to the Board of Directors for the Association of Marshall Scholars. In 2021, she gained election to the prestigious American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Additionally, she chairs the research board of the Royal Shakespeare Company and is a governor on the Folger Shakespeare Library Board.
In 2019, Thompson delivered the keynote lecture titled "Shakespeare and Blackface" at the Shakespeare and Social Justice conference held in South Africa. As ACMRS Director, she established RaceB4Race, a scholarly network supporting academics of color. In 2021, both ACMRS and RaceB4Race were awarded a $3.5 million grant by the Mellon Foundation to advance critical race studies in premodern scholarship.
Her work has been praised as that of 'a world-class scholar,' 'an accomplished leader,' and 'a true innovator.'
Theater work
Ayanna Thompson acts as a consultant and dramaturg for multiple theater organizations and holds the role of Shakespeare Scholar in Residence at The Public Theater in New York City.
Productions
- Served as dramaturg and text consultant for Sam Gold’s 2022 Broadway staging of Macbeth, featuring performances by Daniel Craig and Ruth Negga.
- Provided dramaturgy for the 2022 musical Suffs, composed by Shaina Taub.
- Worked as dramaturg on Richard III, directed by Robert O'Hara at The Public Theater in 2022.
- Collaborated as Shakespeare scholar on three productions under director Saheem Ali: Merry Wives at The Delacorte Theater (2021), along with Romeo y Julieta and Richard II, both presented through WNYC’s Free Shakespeare on the Radio series.
Bibliography
- Blackface – Object Lessons (Bloomsbury, 2021)
- (ed.) The Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare and Race (Cambridge University Press, 2021)
- Shakespeare in the Theatre: Peter Sellars (The Arden Shakespeare, 2018)
- Contribution to Shakespeare, Race and Performance: The Diverse Bard, edited by Delia Jarrett-Macauley (Routledge, 2017)
- (ed.) Colorblind Shakespeare: New Perspectives on Race and Performance (Routledge, 2016)
- Co-authored with Laura Turchi, Teaching Shakespeare With Purpose: A Student-Centred Approach (Bloomsbury Arden Shakespeare, 2016)
- Author of introduction to Othello, edited by E. A. J. Honigmann (Arden Shakespeare, 2016)
- Passing Strange: Shakespeare, Race, And Contemporary America (Oxford University Press, 2011)
- Co-editor with Scott Newstok of Weyward Macbeth: Intersections of Race and Performance (Palgrave, 2010)
- Performing Race and Torture on the Early Modern Stage (Routledge, 2008)
External links
- Arizona State University Faculty Profile: Ayanna Thompson
- Conversation with Professor Thompson: Alumnae Discuss Race and Retribution in Shakespeare | Columbia College Today
- Feature on Professor Thompson: The Othello Whisperer
- Official Website of Ayanna Thompson: Ayanna Thompson