Performance Studies makes performance the lens for seeing, engaging, and reflecting on the world. We believe that theater —and artists—can help to reimagine our world. To that end, we explore new models for the field and world through our seasons, like Seeds of Change and Making New Worlds. Our alumni, like our faculty and students, play leadership roles in fostering greater equity at Georgetown and take those experiences into their careers.
Engaging Black Theatre Ensemble and Social Justice
The Davis Center’s programming strives to diversify representation on campus and in the world: our first musical, Gospel at Colonus, highlights the vitality of Black Life and multiracial community, as directed by Isaiah Wooden (COL ’04) BTE’s then-Artistic Advisor. In Georgetown’s rich history of student theater, BTE collaborates most often with TPST and with projects in the Davis Center each year.
LGBTQ Center + Lavender Graduation
Our faculty, students and alumni press for recognition of LGBTQ students and their rights on campus. In addition to Davis Center students’ campus activism, Faculty and Alumni participate in Working Groups, leading to the formation of GU’s LGBTQ Center. Since then, GU’s LGBTQ community annually recognizes faculty members for sustained support and students for leadership—an honor three TPST professors and six alumni have received, more than any other department.
Faculty Activism & Inclusive Pedagogy
TPST faculty strive to foster diversity, inclusion and equity in teaching, research and theater-making, garnering an array of awards and fellowships on campus. Ten faculty members receive the Doyle Engaging Difference Fellowships or the Provost’s “Innovation in Teaching” award.
Racial Justice Working Group
Pressed by activism from students and faculty, Georgetown makes a commitment to address racial injustice and reconcile its historic role. TPST and African American Studies Prof. Soyica Diggs Colbert, a leading scholar in Black Performance and a Georgetown Alum, joins the Racial Justice Working group as a founding member.
Georgetown’s Racial Justice Institute
In 2021, Georgetown formalizes the Racial Justice Institute (RJI), “focused on addressing persistent issues of racial injustice and the structural causes at the root of racial inequities within our society.” Anita Gonzalez, a Performing Arts & African American Studies professor, joins Georgetown to co-lead the Institute.
It’s no surprise that our alumni carry the social engagement and lessons of TPST classes like Improvisation for Social Change and Race, Gender & Performance, into their careers, especially in law, education, social sciences, and the arts.
95% say Equity & Social Justice have an impact on their current professional lives
54% say they use their Equity & Social Justice education “constantly”
See individual stories from alumni that embody our commitment to Social Justice and Equity.
