Emerging Scholars Award
Due Date: May 31, 2026
The American Theatre and Drama Society (ATDS), in coordination with Disability, Theatre, and Performance (DTaP), is pleased to announce “Activating Imagination in/and Community: Emerging Scholars in ATDS and DTaP,” a panel at the ATHE 2026 conference. Papers submitted may treat any aspect of theatre, performance, and drama of the Americas, its varied histories, traditions, literatures, and performances within its cultural contexts. We also welcome papers by scholar-artists who integrate performance as research. While all submissions are encouraged, we particularly recommend submitting papers that reflect ATHE’s 2026 conference theme of “activating imagination in/and community.” For a full description of this year’s theme, visit the website at this link. See ATDS’s ATHE CFP link here.
Papers should be 8-10 pages long, double spaced.
Please note: This panel introduces new scholarship on American theatre and drama and Disability, Theatre, and Performance from emerging (graduate student) scholars. The DTaP focus group will also issue calls for emerging scholars for participation in this jointly coordinated panel. Our panel will feature four emerging scholar papers, selected by the members of the ATDS and DTaP focus groups. Papers submitted through ATDS do not necessarily need to engage directly with disability studies. However, the idea is that the work brought together in the co-sponsored panel will be deepened by an engagement with other DTaP focused papers that are centered on this topic. The four selected scholars will present their papers, followed by a short period of questions and answers from the attendees. Submissions are welcome from any scholar currently enrolled in a graduate program who has not previously presented at ATHE.
Award recipients for the ATDS Emerging Scholar panel in 2026 will receive constructive feedback from the committee, geared towards the panel presentation. The top two papers will be invited to revise and publish their conference papers in the 2027 issue of Theatre Annual. The winners of the ATDS Emerging Scholar Award will also receive a free one-year membership to ATDS and a check for $150.
Members of the ATDS Emerging Scholar committee include: Nick Fesette (chair), Jade Power-Sotomayor, and Maria De Simone.
To apply, fill out this short Google form and upload your proposed conference paper (8-10 pages, double-spaced) by May 1, 2026. Questions and concerns may be sent to Nick Fesette (nicholas.fesette@emory.edu) via email.