Ayanna Thompson

Thompson graduated with an A.B. from Columbia University in 1994, where she was a Kluge scholar, and was mentored by Edward Said.{{Cite web|last=Boss-Bicak|first=Shira|date=November 2004|title=John Kluge '37 Invests in the Future With the Kluge Scholars Program|url=https://www.college.columbia.edu/cct_archive/nov04/cover.html|url-status=live|access-date=July 7, 2021|website=Columbia College Today|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200729023343/https://www.college.columbia.edu/cct_archive/nov04/cover.html |archive-date=2020-07-29 }}{{Cite web |last=klburt |date=2019-06-07 |title=Ayanna Thompson, Professor (Literature) and Director, Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies |url=https://english.asu.edu/content/ayanna-thompson-professor-literature-and-director-arizona-center-medieval-and-renaissance |access-date=2022-05-26 |website=Department of English}} She won a Marshall Scholarship to study at the University of Sussex, receiving a Masters in 1995.{{Cite web|url=https://www.college.columbia.edu/cct/archive/spring12/bookshelf1|title=Alumnae Explore Race, Revenge in Shakespeare {{!}} Columbia College Today|website=www.college.columbia.edu|access-date=2020-03-16}}{{Cite web|last=Anonymous|date=2021-07-06|title=Ayanna Thompson|url=https://english.asu.edu/content/ayanna-thompson|access-date=2021-07-07|website=Department of English}} She received her PhD from Harvard University in 2001. Her doctoral dissertation was Depicting Race and Torture on the Early Modern Stage.{{Cite web|url=https://hollis.harvard.edu/primo-explore/fulldisplay?docid=01HVD_ALMA212089253290003941&context=L&vid=HVD2&lang=en_US&search_scope=everything&adaptor=Local%20Search%20Engine&tab=everything&query=any,contains,ayanna%20thompson&offset=0|title=Depicting race and torture on the early modern stage|website=hollis.harvard.edu|access-date=2020-03-16}}

Thompson was previously an investment banker at Lehman Brothers.{{Cite web|url=https://asunow.asu.edu/20180827-thompson-set-transform-arizona-center-medieval-and-renaissance-studies|title=Thompson set to transform Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies|date=2018-08-27|website=ASU Now: Access, Excellence, Impact|language=en|access-date=2020-03-16}} Thompson was Professor at Arizona State University 2004-2013 before her appointment at George Washington University.{{Cite web|url=https://members.pbk.org/web/PBK_Member/Programs/Visiting_Scholars/2017-2018/Ayanna_Thompson.aspx|title=Ayanna Thompson|website=members.pbk.org|access-date=2020-03-16}}{{Cite web|url=https://english.asu.edu/content/ayanna-thompson-professor-literature-and-director-arizona-center-medieval-and-renaissance|title=Ayanna Thompson, Professor (Literature) and Director, Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies|last=klburt|date=2019-06-07|website=Department of English|access-date=2020-03-16}} Thompson returned to the Phoenix Arizona region after five years.“Ayanna Thompson, Professor (Literature) and Director, Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies | Department of English.” Accessed February 8, 2025. https://english.asu.edu/content/ayanna-thompson-professor-literature-and-director-arizona-center-medieval-and-renaissance. Thompson served as a Phi Beta Kappa Visiting Scholar, 2017-2018. She was previously President of the Shakespeare Association of America (2018–19).{{Cite web|url=http://www.shakespeareassociation.org/about/governance/officers/|title=Shakespeare Association of America {{!}} Officers|access-date=2020-03-16}}

She currently serves on the boards of the journals Shakespeare Quarterly, Renaissance Drama, and Shakespeare Bulletin. She has served as a member of the Board of Directors for the Association of Marshall Scholars.{{Cite web|url=https://sites.lafayette.edu/symposium/ayanna-thompson/|title=Ayanna Thompson – Shakespeare, Race, and the Practical Humanities Symposium|website=sites.lafayette.edu|access-date=2020-03-16}} In 2021 she was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.{{Cite web|title=Ayanna Thompson|url=https://www.amacad.org/person/ayanna-thompson|access-date=2021-12-08|website=American Academy of Arts & Sciences|language=en}} Thompson is an Associate Scholar and the Chair of the Royal Shakespeare Company's Research Board,{{Cite web|title=First performing arts company to get independent research status {{!}} Royal Shakespeare Company|url=https://www.rsc.org.uk/news/first-performing-arts-company-to-get-independent-research-status|access-date=2021-12-08|website=www.rsc.org.uk|language=en-GB}} and is a member of the Folger Shakespeare Library Board of Governors.{{Cite web|last=kcurran|date=2014-12-15|title=Board of Governors|url=https://www.folger.edu/board-governors|access-date=2021-12-08|website=Folger Shakespeare Library|language=en}}

Thompson gave the keynote speech on "Shakespeare and Blackface" at the Shakespeare and Social Justice conference held at the University of Cape Town in association with the University of the Witwatersrand and the Shakespeare Association of Southern Africa in 2019.{{Cite web|title=Shakespeare and Social Justice keynote address by Professor Ayanna Thompson: 5pm, 16 May 2019 {{!}} Department of English Literature|url=http://www.english.uct.ac.za/ssj-2019-keynote-news|access-date=2020-06-22|website=www.english.uct.ac.za|date=15 May 2019 |language=en}}

As Director of the Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, Thompson is the creator of RaceB4Race, an ongoing conference series and professional network community by and for scholars of color.{{Cite web|title=RaceB4Race™ {{!}} Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies|url=https://acmrs.asu.edu/RaceB4Race|access-date=2020-09-22|website=acmrs.asu.edu}} In 2021, Thompson's center and RaceB4Race received a $3.5m grant from the Mellon Foundation.{{Cite web |date=2021-09-21 |title=ASU center receives grant to expand, diversify premodern critical race scholarship |url=https://news.asu.edu/20210921-solutions-asu-center-receives-grant-expand-diversify-premodern-critical-race-scholarship |access-date=2023-03-21 |website=ASU News |language=en}}

Thompson has been described as 'a world-class scholar', an 'accomplished leader', a 'true innovator', and 'a major force'.

Ayanna Thompson serves as a consultant and dramaturg for many theater companies and is a Shakespeare Scholar in Residence at The Public Theater in New York.{{Cite web |title=Ayanna Thompson |url=https://training.npr.org/sources/ayanna-thompson/ |access-date=2021-12-08 |website=NPR Training + Diverse Sources Database}}

• Dramaturg and text consultant for Sam Gold's 2022 production of Macbeth on Broadway starring Daniel Craig and Ruth Negga.{{Cite web |title=Daniel Craig and Ruth Negga to Star on Broadway in Macbeth, Directed by Sam Gold {{!}} TheaterMania |url=https://www.theatermania.com/broadway/news/daniel-craig-ruth-negga-macbeth-broadway_92818.html |access-date=2021-12-08 |website=www.theatermania.com |language=en-US}}
• Dramaturg for the 2022 musical Suffs written by Shaina Taub.{{Cite web |title=Suffs |url=https://publictheater.org/productions/season/2122/suffs/ |access-date=2021-12-08 |website=publictheater.org |language=en-us}}
• Dramaturg for Richard III, directed by Robert O'Hara for The Public Theater in 2022.{{Cite web |title=Richard III |url=https://publictheater.org/about/press/21-22/richard-iii |access-date=2023-04-04 |website=publictheater.org}}
• Shakespeare scholar in consultation for three productions directed by Saheem Ali: Merry Wives at The Delacorte Theater in 2021,{{Cite web |title=Merry Wives - Free Shakespeare in the Park |url=https://publictheater.org/productions/season/2021/sitp/merry-wives/ |access-date=2023-03-21 |website=publictheater.org |language=en-us}} Romeo y Julieta{{Cite web |title=Lupita Nyong'o & Director Saheem Ali Discuss 'Romeo y Julieta' {{!}} All Of It |url=https://www.wnyc.org/story/lupita-nyongo-and-saheem-ali-romeo-y-julieta/ |access-date=2023-03-21 |website=WNYC |language=en}} on WNYC's Free Shakespeare on the Radio, and Richard II,{{Cite web |title=Free Shakespeare on the Radio: Richard II {{!}} WNYC {{!}} New York Public Radio, Podcasts, Live Streaming Radio, News |url=https://www.wnyc.org/shows/free-shakespeare-radio-richard-ii |access-date=2023-03-21 |website=WNYC |language=en}} also on WNYC's Free Shakespeare on the Radio.

• Blackface – Object Lessons (Bloomsbury 2021){{Cite web|last=bloomsbury.com|title=Blackface|url=https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/blackface-9781501374012/|access-date=2021-12-08|website=Bloomsbury|language=en}}
• (ed.) The Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare and Race (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 2021)[https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/cambridge-companion-to-shakespeare-and-race/A4A370E1F09A89ECCEC6C3A906F85A7F]
• Shakespeare in the Theatre: Peter Sellars (London: The Arden Shakespeare, 2018){{Cite journal|last=MacKay|first=Ellen|date=2019-05-27|title=Recent Studies in Tudor and Stuart Drama|url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/725104|journal=SEL: Studies in English Literature 1500–1900|language=en|volume=59|issue=2|pages=429–479|doi=10.1353/sel.2019.0021|s2cid=191726266|issn=1522-9270|url-access=subscription}}
• Shakespeare, Race and Performance: The Diverse Bard, ed. by Delia Jarrett-Macauley (Abingdon: Routledge, 2017){{Cite journal|last=Linton|first=David|date=2018-12-07|title=Shakespeare, Race and Performance: The Diverse Bard ed. by Delia Jarrett-Macauley (review)|url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/711284|journal=Theatre Notebook|language=en|volume=72|issue=3|pages=181–182|issn=2051-8358}}
• (ed.) Colorblind Shakespeare: New Perspectives on Race and Performance (London: Routledge, 2016){{Cite journal|last=Smith|first=Ian|date=2008-09-14|title=Colorblind Shakespeare: New Perspectives on Race and Performance (review)|url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/248187|journal=Shakespeare Quarterly|language=en|volume=59|issue=3|pages=354–356|doi=10.1353/shq.0.0018|s2cid=191586854|issn=1538-3555}}
• (Co-authored with Laura Turchi) Teaching Shakespeare With Purpose: A Student-Centred Approach (London: Bloomsbury Arden Shakespeare, 2016){{Cite web|last=Bloomsbury.com|title=Teaching Shakespeare with Purpose|url=https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/teaching-shakespeare-with-purpose-9781472599629/|access-date=2020-06-22|website=Bloomsbury Publishing|language=en}}
• Introduction to Othello, edited by E. A. J. Honigmann (London: Arden Shakespeare, 2016)
• Passing Strange: Shakespeare, Race, And Contemporary America (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011){{Cite journal|last=Royster|first=Francesca|date=2013-04-14|title=Passing Strange: Shakespeare, Race and Contemporary America by Ayanna Thompson (review)|url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/504642|journal=Comparative Drama|language=en|volume=47|issue=1|pages=134–137|doi=10.1353/cdr.2013.0012|s2cid=161375989 |issn=1936-1637}}{{Cite web|title=Mixed Race Studies » Ayanna Thompson|url=http://www.mixedracestudies.org/?tag=ayanna-thompson|access-date=2020-06-22}}
• (Co-edited with [https://www.rhodes.edu/bio/scott-newstok Scott Newstok]) Weyward Macbeth: Intersections of Race and Performance (London: Palgrave, 2010)
• Performing Race and Torture on the Early Modern Stage (New York: Routledge, 2008){{Cite journal|last=Lamb|first=Caroline|date=2011-06-09|title=Performing Race and Torture on the Early Modern Stage (review)|url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/439009|journal=Theatre Journal|language=en|volume=63|issue=2|pages=299–300|doi=10.1353/tj.2011.0044|s2cid=191363234|issn=1086-332X}}

{{reflist}}

• Arizona State University Staff Profile Page: [https://english.asu.edu/content/ayanna-thompson Ayanna Thompson]
• Interview with Professor Thompson: [https://www.college.columbia.edu/cct/archive/spring12/bookshelf1 Alumnae Explore Race, Revenge in Shakespeare | Columbia College Today]
• Interview with Professor Thompson: [https://asunow.asu.edu/20190703-othello-whisperer The Othello whisperer]
• Ayanna Thompson's personal website: [https://www.ayannathompson.com/ Ayanna Thompson]
• {{IMDb name|nm6528046}}

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Category:Arizona State University faculty

Category:Harvard University alumni

Category:American investment bankers

Category:American women investors

Category:American women bankers

Category:Living people

Category:21st-century American educators

Category:Alumni of the University of Sussex

Category:Year of birth missing (living people)

Category:Columbia College (New York) alumni