August 2026

Written By Alexis Riley

Dear ATDS Community,

Thank you to everyone who joined us for this year’s conference in Baltimore! It was good to see so many ATDS members at the conference and learn about your exciting research and teaching through the generative panels, roundtables, and events at ATHE. If you are interested in the books featured on this year’s ATDS-BTA-LIA Spotlight on New Works panel for yourself or your library, check out the discounts listed here. Many thanks again to co-conference planners Samuel Yates and Victoria LaFave for their wonderful work on the conference! 

ATDS has had a busy year! This past year ATDS

  • Sponsored 19 sessions and social events at ATHE 2026, including collaborations with BTA, LIA, MTDA, and DTaP 

  • Created new mentorship opportunities through the ATDS Mentoring Network, ATDS Graduate Student Postconference Series, and Career Connections Program

  • Updated the bylaws to make the co-conference planner’s term two years

  • Held an exciting roundtable on “New Books in Asian American Theatre and Performance Studies” as part of ATDS’s Anti-Racist Initiatives

  • Held a roundtable and workshop on “Negotiating Precarity” in relation to pedagogy and the academic job market as part of our Career Conversations Series 

  • Supported the return of the First Book Bootcamp

  • Held two Zoom Meet Ups to provide a space for listening and brainstorming in support of the challenges our members are facing in our current moment

  • Held a successful special election and regular election to fill an empty board position and elect a new co-conference planner

  • Published a new issue of Theatre Annual and Spring 2026 special issue of JADT on “100 Years of Du Bois: “Principles of a Real Negro Theatre” and “Criteria of Negro Art”

  • Transferred our website and payment platforms and developed a new website

  • Updated our membership fees and changed to a website structure that will give members more ways to access their member information and resources

  • Raised funds for the Career Conversations Series

  • Recognized and celebrated the impressive and important work of our members through ATDS awards

Many thanks to the members who have helped ATDS offer its many initiatives and awards over the past year! If you are interested in serving ATDS this year, please sign up on our volunteer form. 

The 2026 ATHE conference may be over, but ATDS continues to offer multiple opportunities for research, professional development, and mentorship throughout the summer and is preparing for an exciting year of new programs and events. This week, we are offering two opportunities to support research and publication development. Congratulations again to all the writers participating in the 2026 First Book Bootcamp this week! The virtual ATDS Graduate Student Postconference Series on Demystifying the Journal Publication Process will be on Friday July 31. Register by July 28! 

If you are interested in learning more about careers beyond faculty positions, sign up for the new ATDS Career Connections program, which matches anyone interested in learning about careers beyond college faculty positions with Theatre and Performance Studies PhDs for an informational interview. You can learn more and sign up to serve as a mentor or mentee on the ATDS Career Connections page. The program will make matches in August, December, and April. Sign up by August 20 to be included in the first round of matches.  

We are welcoming submissions to our Spring 2027 Special Issue of JADT on “Theatre and Activism” through November 1. More information will be available this fall about the upcoming Anti-Racist Initiatives session featuring queer of color U.S. theatre and performance studies scholarship. Please also keep an eye out for the CFP for the 2027 issue of Theatre Annual from editor Jonathan Shandell and ATDS’s CFP for ATHE 2027 from our co-conference planners Victoria LaFave and Vicki Hoskins. 

All of our initiatives and awards are possible because of the time, labor, and generosity of our members. I invite you to renew your membership today or consider joining ATDS for the first time. We offer membership at a range of levels, including Pay What You Can and an Annual Subscription option. As we head into our 40th year as an organization in 2027, I also invite you to consider a donation to ATDS, which will help us continue to offer opportunities for research, mentorship, and community in the years to come. 

Wishing you a relaxing rest of the summer and a smooth start to the new academic year!

Best,

Michelle

-- 

Michelle Granshaw, PhD
Associate Professor, Theatre Arts
University of Pittsburgh

President, American Theatre and Drama Society

Alexis Riley
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February 2026