Overview
Theo Black is a professor in Cornell University’s department of Performing & Media Arts, where he engages students in acting, directing, public speaking, and practice-based eco-performance work. As a Fellow for Ecology House, his university work centers in pedagogy and practice within intersecting fields of the arts and ecology, with the Environment & Sustainability program & Cornell Botanic Gardens and in partnership with eco-oriented colleagues at Stanford, UNR-Lake Tahoe’s Sustainability Certificate program, and UC Merced (with their Environmental Humanities program & adapting Shakespeare's plays for Earth Day’s Shakespeare in Yosemite events). Beyond the academy, Theo also serves as a communication coach for Footprints climate action & environmental justice camps.
Research Focus
Ecology & Performance
Shakespeare performance studies
Public speaking
Recent Projects
BIOphelia, HumaNatures, Shakesperean Ecologies, #Cymbeline-Anthropocene, and Eco-Macbeth: Nature Fights Back.
In the news
- Eco-Performance: Harnessing Dynamic Communication Skills to Meet the Times
- PMA Senior Lecturer Theo Black Leads Two Eco-Macbeth Events in the UK
- Eco-Macbeth: Nature Fights Back
- Acting Masterclass: Tanmay Dhanania
- PMA Senior Lecturer Theo Black to Speak at Shakespeare and Environmental Justice Symposium
- Eco-Macbeth: Nature Fights Back
- BIOphelia: A Performance-Infused Scholarship Symposium
- Acting Showcase Sharing
- A Mingled Yarn A Devised Play, May 4th 5:45 p.m.
Courses - Fall 2025
- PMA 2800 : Introduction to Acting
- PMA 3800 : Acting II
- PMA 7100 : The Pedagogy of Performing and Media Arts