Date of Award
Spring 2025
Access Restriction
Campus Access only Theses
Degree Name
Master of Fine Arts
Department
Theatre Arts
School or College
College of Communication and Fine Arts
First Advisor
Kevin J. Wetmore, Jr.
Second Advisor
Stacey Cabaj
Third Advisor
Nenad Pervan
Abstract
This course and paper explore the history of how Black women have been erased, stereotyped, and underrepresented in American theatre and film, and how they have reclaimed their own narratives through groundbreaking artistry and innovation. It's built around the core belief that representation matters: not just to correct the stories that have been left out, but to affirm the richness, complexity, and power of Black womanhood.
Taking an interdisciplinary approach, we blend historical research, critical conversation, and artistic exploration. We study early pioneers like Pauline Hopkins, Angelina Weld Grimké, and Vinnette Carroll, and connect their legacies to contemporary changemakers like Ava DuVernay, Kasi Lemmons, and Dominique Morisseau. Students engage with plays, films, interviews, and critical readings to see how Black women have challenged stereotypes, shifted narratives, and carved out new spaces for themselves and others.
The course also invites students to think about the complexities Black women face working within and sometimes pushing back against, traditional ideas about respectability, representation, and visibility. We center the voices and visions of Black women as a way to show how education, theatre, and film can be powerful tools for reclamation, creativity, and liberation.
At its heart, this project is about more than studying history, it's about inspiring students to imagine how they, too, can be part of reshaping the future of storytelling. It's a celebration of legacy, resistance, artistry, and the transformative power of representation.
Recommended Citation
Williams Roberts, Charlotte, "Dismantling Stereotypes and Reclaiming Narratives through Representation, Artistry, and Legacy: Teaching Black Women in Theatre and Film-Empowered by Color" (2025). LMU Theses and Dissertations. 1343.
https://digitalcommons.lmu.edu/etd/1343
