The Women and Theatre Program presented Department of Performing and Media Arts (PMA) professor J. Ellen Gainor with the Achievement in Scholarship Award at their annual conference in Boston on August 1. The Program pointed to Professor Gainor’s books Shaw’s Daughters: Dramatic and Narrative Constructions of Gender and Susan Glaspell in Context: American Theater, Cultureand Politics 1915–48 as exemplary work in the field of “women and theatre.”
“As with the best scholars, Ellen’s influence extends not only to those who read her work, but also to those she teaches,” said Dr. Rosemary Malague, Chair of the Awards Committee.
At the conference, Professor Gainor also participated in a discussion titled "Fostering Feminists: A Roundtable on Pedagogy and Mentorship." Other highlights from the conference included talks on teaching feminist acting classes and empowerment in the classroom.
The Women and Theatre Program is a focus group within the Association for Theatre in Higher Education (ATHE). The goal of the Program is to foster discussions on feminism, theatre, and performance among scholars, activists, and theatre professionals.
Professor Gainor serves as PMA’s Director of Undergraduate Studies. Her work focuses on nineteenth- and twentieth-century British and American drama and women’s dramaturgy.
Julian Robison '20 is a communications assistant for the Department of Performing and Media Arts.
