Henry Bial
Graduate Director and Associate Professor

Department of Theatre and Film
The University of Kansas
Murphy Hall
1530 Naismith Drive, Room 302
Lawrence, KS 66045-3102
Phone: (785) 864-2767
Fax: (785) 864-5251
Email

Fall 2008 semester
Office hours:
Tuesday: 2:00-3:30 p.m.
and by appointment.
Courses:
No courses.
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Henry Bial joined the KU faculty in August 2005. His research and teaching specialties include Theatre History and Criticism, Performance Theory, Religious Performance, and Jewish Popular Culture. He holds a PhD in Performance Studies from New York University and a BA in Folklore and Mythology from Harvard University.

Dr. Bial is the author of Acting Jewish: Negotiating Ethnicity on the American Stage and Screen (University of Michigan Press, 2005), the editor of The Performance Studies Reader (Routledge, 2004; Second Edition, 2007), and the co-editor (with Carol Martin) of Brecht Sourcebook (Routledge, 2000). He has published articles in Theatre Topics and The Journal of American Drama and Theatre, and reviews in TDR, American Jewish History, Theatre Journal, Theatre Research International, and The Journal of American Ethnic History. He serves on the editorial boards of Theatre Topics, The Journal of Dramatic Theory and Criticism, and The Baylor Journal of Theatre and Performance.

Dr. Bial is currently Vice-President for Advocacy (2007-2009) of the Association for Theatre in Higher Education (ATHE), a board member (2007-2011) of the American Theatre and Drama Society (ATDS), and Co-Chair of the Theatre History Symposium (2006-2008) for the Mid-America Theatre Conference (MATC). Prior professional service includes ATHE’s 2005 Conference Committee, and terms as Conference Planner (1999-2001) and President/Focus Group Representative (2002-2004) of the Performance Studies Focus Group (PSFG).

Before coming to Kansas, Dr. Bial taught theatre history and performance studies at the University of New Mexico, New York University, and The New School for Social Research. In addition to his scholarly pursuits, Dr. Bial has worked in a variety of capacities -- from performer to designer, from playwright to board op, from ASM to front-of-house -- in university and professional theatres in New York, Boston, Minneapolis, and Albuquerque.

Click here to view Curriculum Vitae.