Dr. Faedra Chatard Carpenter, recipient of both the Anne Warren Leadership Award (2018) from the School of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies and the University of Maryland’s Graduate Faculty Mentor of the Year Award (2016), is a theatre and performance studies scholar, professional dramaturg, and cultural critic.

Her research, writing, public speaking, and creative activities are grounded in her advocacy for diversity, inclusion, and cultural fluency within a wide-range of institutional spheres. Through her analysis of both staged performances and the performative practices of everyday life, Dr. Carpenter applies her expertise in expressive culture, creative collaboration, and dramaturgical methodologies to forge common understandings and illuminate issues regarding race, gender, class, and sexuality. 

Dr. Carpenter’s book, Coloring Whiteness: Acts of Critique in Black Performance (University of Michigan Press), received the Honorable Mention for ATDS’ John W. Frick Book Award for the best book in American theatre and drama in 2014 as well as the Honorable Mention for ASTR’s 2015 Errol Hill Award for outstanding scholarship in African American theater, drama, and/or performance studies.

Currently, Dr. Carpenter is working on her second book project, Crafting Consciousness. A study of creative texts, performance events, and public presentations, Crafting Consciousness explores how the particularized employment of imagery, language, and communal narratives can facilitate and foster meanings—both intended and unintended. In so doing, Dr. Carpenter uses her case studies to offer cultural insight, consider the politics of intentionality, and champion conscientious innovation on and beyond the stage.