February 2026
Dear ATDS Community,
I am writing with some updates about ATDS events and opportunities over the next few months. Six months into my term as ATDS president, I continue to be energized by the dedicated and creative people who comprise our organization. I remain committed to continuing and expanding our initiatives to best support our members and confront the challenges of our moment.
I want to reiterate our statement of solidarity that the Officers and Board sent out a year ago. We remain committed to our mission and the ways we can support global majority people, immigrants, refugees, trans people, non-binary people, queer people, people with disabilities, and others navigating the fascist bans, violence, and oppression in our country right now. We are committed to standing with you. We also are committed to celebrating you and your work and finding moments of community and joy. I am grateful to collaborate with generous and brilliant colleagues who have been working hard to create spring and summer programming in support of these values.
On February 20 at 3PM EST/2PM CST/12PM PST, Becca Worley and I will be holding a virtual meet up for faculty and students navigating censorship and oppression at their colleges and universities to share experiences, strategies, and resources. We will use this Zoom link and we hope you will join us! We also are working on other resources requested by faculty navigating these circumstances and will be sharing them soon.
In March and May, ATDS will be holding two sessions as part of our Anti-Racist Initiatives focusing on new works in queer of color U.S. theatre and performance studies and Asian-American theatre and performance studies. Many thanks to Donatella Galella and Janet Werther for organizing this year’s series!
In March and April, ATDS will be holding two Career Conversations sessions: a roundtable, “Negotiating Precarity in the Classroom,” and a workshop, “Negotiating Precarity in the Job Market.” Thank you to Tash Cole and Vivian Appler for organizing this year’s series!
On March 9, ATHE will be opening its portal for the second round of submissions for this summer’s conference in Baltimore. I encourage you to submit to one of the many generative panels and conversations looking for more participants. I also want to draw your attention to a new ATDS event that will be open to submissions in March, the “ATDS Mentorship Network: Collective Care Beyond the Conference.” This session invites mentees and mentors committed to working in a longer-term, ethical engagement rather than a one-off conference conversation and welcomes participants at all stages of their careers. Thank you to Sam Yates and Victoria LaFave for their hard work organizing this year’s conference!
The First Book Bootcamp is back this summer! Information will be circulated about this year’s bootcamp later in the spring. Many thanks to Michael Bennett, Heather Nathans, and Jennifer Buckley for leading this year’s bootcamp!
With the new year, ATDS launched a new website and I encourage you to check it out. Thank you to Alexis Riley, Pria Williams, and the web advisory committee for your work!
Our award applications are open! Our calls welcome applications from people at all stages of their careers. We want to celebrate you! The first deadline is coming up soon – applications for the Frick Book Award are due on February 28.
Please share your news and publications with our digital media secretary Alexis Riley (digitalmedia@atds.org), so ATDS can recognize your wonderful accomplishments on our website! If you are interested in joining our Experts List, you also can reach out to Alexis for more information.
We will have an election this spring for co-conference planner (two-year term). Please note that the ballot will only be sent to members who have renewed their memberships for the current year. Thank you to the Nominations Committee, Jocelyn Buckner, Heidi Nees-Carver, and Bryan Vandevender!
Theatre Annual has extended it deadline for submissions for the 2026 issue until March 15, 2026. Book review submissions are due April 1, 2026.
Check out the latest issue of JADT (38.1)! JADT also is seeking applications for new co-editors for a three-year term (2026-9) and applications are due March 15, 2026. Please reach out to Benjamin Gillespie (benjamin.a.gillespie@gmail.com) and Bess Rowen (bess.rowen@gmail.com) with any questions.
Thank you to everyone who donated to support Career Conversations as part of this year’s fundraising campaign! You can support Career Conversations and our other initiatives by donating through our website.
If you have not yet renewed your membership, please consider doing so today! ATDS membership gives you access to our member benefits and your dues support our many ongoing awards, initiatives, and events.
I look forward to seeing you at our programming this spring!
In solidarity,
Michelle
