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Never presented at ATHE? 

Our Focus Groups invite you to consider submitting to a debut or "emerging scholar" session at the 2026 Conference! Just for individuals who have never presented before, debut sessions are a great way to ease your way into being a part of ATHE. Debut sessions are curated specifically by focus groups and provide additional support for new presenters. Please contact Focus Group Conference Planners with any questions. Do check each call, as focus groups have different deadlines for submissions this spring.

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At this time, we are particularly interested in work that critically interrogates theatre practices and performances through reflexive auto-ethnographic analysis, including approaches informed by affect theory, ritual theory, play, and vulnerability. We also welcome submissions that engage with professional development, especially those emerging from pedagogical exercises, assessment strategies, or classroom-based inquiry.

In addition, we are eager to broaden the scope of what this online platform can showcase. Theatre Topics Online is a space uniquely suited to innovative digital formats, and encourages contributors to explore the possibilities listed below.

Submission Details

Online Articles

• 1,000–4,000 words

• May connect to a special issue or stand alone, particularly if supported by audiovisual material

• Must offer a clear argument supported by evidence and referenced using MLA style

• Reviewed by editorial staff rather than through double-blind peer review

• Multimedia (video, images, etc.) may be included with proper copyright permissions secured by the author

• Innovative digital formats include:

  • Blog or vlog posts

  • Video essays

  • Video interviews or conversations

  • Video playlists or short documentaries

  • Teaching resource videos

  • Interactive or augmented video content

  • Photo essays

  • Podcasts

  • Other multimedia-based explorations of practice or pedagogy

Additional Formats

• Notes from the Field (3,000–4,000 words):
  First-person accounts of teaching, rehearsal processes, production work, or other aspects of theatre-making.

• Big Interviews (2,000–3,000 words):
  Conversations with notable practitioners, accompanied by images and/or video.

• My 10 Top Tips (≤1,500 words):
  Short, practical contributions offering advice on any relevant facet of theatre practice or instruction.

Theatre Topics Online is a space uniquely suited to innovative digital formats! Questions? Contact Online Editor Heather Barfield.

• Strengthen clarity and visibility across digital and printed platforms
• Support unified messaging across the organization
• Reflect the creativity, resilience, and dedication of our members

Over the coming weeks, you’ll see our new identity across communications, social media, programs, and materials. While the design is new, our mission, values, and dedication remain the same. We hope you will embrace the updated look and help us be a part of the new chapter of ATHE.

Q: Why a new logo?
A: As departments and programs face even more challenges than before, it’s more important than ever for our association to communicate with clarity, unity, and professionalism while also prioritizing legibility, usability, and consistency across platforms. The new logo strengthens how we represent our members in advocacy, digital communications, and outreach.

Q: How was the redesign chosen?
A: The committee carefully reviewed options and selected a design that balances mission-driven purpose, functionality, and visual impact, with attention to using our financial resources responsibly.

Q: Does this change the mission or values?
A: No. The mission, values, and work of the association remain the same. The new logo is a tool to better communicate and represent our ongoing work, supporting our broader efforts to strengthen advocacy, member communication, visibility, and long-term organizational stability.

Q: Do members need to do anything differently?
A: No. You’ll begin seeing the new logo across communications and materials. Everything else continues as usual.

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Our annual awards rely on volunteers to review and adjudicate books, articles, and award applications. We love new members for their insight and input to each award process. Interested in becoming more involved? Email Brian Valencia, ATHE’s new VP for Awards.

READ THE FIRST ISSUE 

The ATHE Nominations Committee is pleased to share the 2025 Governing Council elections results. The following ATHE members have been elected for two year terms, serving through August 2027.

• PRESIDENT ELECT:Dani Snyder-Young
• VP CONFERENCE 2027:Denise Hart
• VP for AWARDS:Brian Valencia
• VP for PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT:Omiyẹmi (Artisia) Green (continuing)
• MEMBERS AT LARGE:Sharon Green; Bryan Moore; Daphnie Sicre; Samuel Yates

• IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT:Chase Bringardner
• VP CONFERENCE 2025:Kirsten Pullen
• VP for AWARDS:Karl O'Brian Williams
  
• MEMBERS AT LARGE:Kelly Aliano and Amanda Dawson

Thank you to our continuing board members as well!

• INCOMING PRESIDENT:Martine Green-Rogers
• TREASURER: Charlotte McIvor
• SECRETARY: Courtney Elkin Mohler
• VP for PUBLICATIONS: Kristen Leahey
• VP CONFERENCE 2026:DeRon S. Williams
• VP for MEMBERSHIP:Bess Rowen
  
• MEMBERS AT LARGE: Jeremy Gillett
• IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT: CarlosAlexis Cruz

It is with deep sadness—and reverence for a life so profoundly lived—that we share news of the passing of a beloved colleague, mentor, and friend, Michael Dinwiddie. His transition on July 4, 2025, marks a tremendous loss for the Black theatre community and for so many of us who have been shaped by his visionary leadership, generous spirit, and tireless commitment to the field. Below is a tribute that honors Michael’s extraordinary legacy and the indelible impact he has made on our organization and beyond. We invite you to read, reflect, and remember alongside all who loved him.

*******
Earlier last week, I stopped by my office. In the usual stack of to-dos and unopened envelopes, I noticed several copies of Southern Theatre, Volume LXVI.2, with the distinguished André De Shields gracing the cover. The issue is rich, and among many things, a celebration of Black excellence in theatre—and as I made my way to the back pages, my eyes fell on the 11th photo, almost dead center. I paused. I smiled. I knew that face.

There was Michael Dinwiddie, sitting alongside his partner Vincent and colleague, David H. Parker. Just days after seeing that image, I would receive the news of Michael’s passing. My mind immediately went to the last time I was in his presence—April 2025, the month after the SETC convention. We were in Pittsburgh for the August Wilson Biennial Colloquium. I was there to give a keynote address. Michael had planned to attend but had to step away to take a business call about the production of one of his plays. That was Michael. Always making something happen. Always moving between worlds—artist, advocate, scholar, mentor—with his signature warmth, wit, and sense of purpose.

Who knew that would be the last time I’d see him? That the hug we shared would be our last.

Rather than use this space to list Michael Dinwiddie’s many accomplishments, those were beautifully, rightfully, and almost immediately documented by the Black Theatre Network, the August Wilson Society, and the National Black Theatre: Institute for Action Arts in the near hours of his passing, I want to speak briefly about what his joyful leadership teaches us now.

Michael understood that Black theatre was more than a discipline—it was a gathering place. He worked diligently to build institutions not for prestige but for people. He created platforms for artists and scholars alike, and he believed in expanding the table, not protecting it. Whether offering guidance to a first-time playwright, advocating for a colleague's project, or planting and watering seeds for journals like Continuum and the Black Theatre Review, he was always investing in our collective future.

His leadership was rooted in joy, in the possibilities of what we could make together, and in the urgency of not delaying that vision. He showed us that excellence and generosity are not mutually exclusive. That legacy is not something one earns at the end—but something one builds, moment by moment, in community.

Members of The Black Theatre Association are stronger for Michael’s support. We are wiser for his witness. And we are called, now more than ever, to lead with the same imagination, humility, and joy that he carried into every room.

We offer our deepest condolences to his family, loved ones, and the countless individuals whom he mentored and inspired. And we say, with full hearts: Thank you, Michael.

In love and remembrance,
Omiyẹmi (Artisia) Green

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In response to the dire state of affairs, the American Society for Theatre Research co-signed a statement written by the American Council of Learned Societies noting the positive impact that the NEH has in upholding “critical thought, cultural memory, and wisdom fostered by the humanities.”

In the days since that letter was published, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has begun sending letters out to current grant recipients notifying them that there grants have been suspended, oftentimes with the vague and boilerplate language that the organization is “repurposing its funding allocations in a new direction in furtherance of the president’s agenda.”

Many members of our organization and other organizations (including our co-signers the Association for Theatre in Higher Education and Dance Studies Association) connected to the fields of theatre, dance, and performance studies have been affected. This includes scholars doing work in the digital humanities, folks whose work is grounded in addressing systemic disparities at home and abroad, as well as individuals planning summer institutes designed to share and support scholarship and teaching.

It is imperative that all of us take action regardless of whether or not these funding cuts have had a personal impact on us.

As part of our efforts to support the National Endowment for the Humanities, preserve the agency’s grant programs, and maintain grants that have already been awarded, ASTR, ATHE, and DSA encourage its membership to contact their members of Congress, as well as state and local legislators. You can find your federal and state representatives at USA.gov.

1. You may write or call and adapt the script provided by the National Humanities Alliance

“We are asking you to support the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) in the face of a direct attack by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). DOGE is rescinding grants that have already been awarded, including operating support grants for the state and jurisdictional humanities councils. This is money that has been appropriated by Congress for the states, and DOGE is taking it against the express will of Congress. The National Humanities Alliance has specific suggestions about how to offer effective support.

Additionally, DOGE is threatening to cut the agency’s grant programs and reduce the staff by as much as 70%—an action that would surely prohibit the agency from fulfilling its statutory obligations.

The NEH supports communities throughout the United States. NEH grants support K-12 education and lifelong learning, provide programs for Veterans, foster community dialogue, preserve local and national history, and strengthen local tourism economies. NEH-funded organizations—libraries, museums, historical sites, educational institutions, and other cultural institutions—are pillars of their communities. And the NEH’s partnership with the state and jurisdictional humanities councils helps the agency reach every congressional district.

The NEH strengthens communities and civic life, and NEH staff are vital partners in this work, helping grantees navigate government processes and ensuring that federal dollars are well spent.

Script Variation Ending For Congress

“The NEH is tasked by Congress to provide humanities access to all Americans, and Congress has appropriated funds for that purpose. As we look to the future, we urge you to ensure that the agency continues to function, fulfilling its congressional mandate.”

Script Variation Ending For State Legislators

“Now is the time to make your own voice heard on these issues. As constituents, we ask that you protest this action in your own communications to government officials and to the public. Additionally, we ask that you look to support cultural organizations here at home. Our theatres, libraries, museums, historic sites, and other cultural institutions are essential—with NEH funding under threat, we will need to figure out how to fill gaps in support. Please work to support our cultural institutions in this time of crisis.”

2. Share your own stories about the NEH

ASTR Vice President for Publication, Noe Montez, invites all scholars in theatre dance, and performance studies, who have received grants from the NEH to email noe.montez@gmail.com to share stories about their grants, the outcomes of those projects, and the impacts that your NEH supported research has made on your communities, particularly as they relate to the fields of theatre, dance, and performance. If you have had a grant that was cancelled, please feel free to share the goals and potential impacts of your projects as well. He will work with other members of the organization to compile these messages and send them to members of Congress. He will also reach out to the National Humanities Alliance to see if we can share these stories more broadly.

You may also wish to call your local newspapers and news agencies to let them know about the impact of funding cuts and what they mean to your work and the larger work of theatre, dance, and performance studies. The National Humanities Alliance offers support for press outreach.

We will continue to work in community with one another, building networks of care and support in every way we can.

Patricia Herrera, President, ASTR

Noe Montez, Vice President for Publications, ASTR

Charlotte M. Canning, Past President, ASTR

With co-signers

CarlosAlexis Cruz, President, ATHE

Rosemary Candelario, President, DSA

REGISTER NOW 

SUBMIT HERE