Lisa Anderson
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Phone: 480-965-2356
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1120 S Cady Mall Rm 285 Tempe, AZ 85287
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Mail code: 1003Campus: Tempe
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Lisa M. Anderson is a Professor in the School of Social Transformation, and the Senior Associate Dean of Academic Affairs and Engagement in the Graduate College. She is primarily a semiotician whose research focuses on race, gender, and sexuality in culture, specifically in representational arts (theatre, film, television, and literature). In May 2023, she published her most recent book, Black Women and the Changing Television Landscape (Bloomsbury). She has begun work on a new monograph on Black feminist, queer, and trans science fiction, exploring the ways that these writers imagine Black futures. She is also interested in the lived experiences of decolonization and liberation and joy for Black and Latina queer and trans people, and is currently working on a co-authored book tentatively entitled Black and Latina Queer and Trans Creolizations with Jacqueline M. Martinez. In the Graduate College, she works on curriculum development, Graduate faculty, and Graduate College policy. She also participates in professional development particularly for Presidential scholars. She has held various leadership roles in the School of Social Transformation, including Faculty Lead, Associate Director of Graduate Studies, and Deputy School Director.
- Ph.D. Theatre History and Criticism, University of Washington
- M.A. Smith College
- A.B. Mount Hoyoke College
Semiotics; intersections of race, gender, and sexuality; African American LGBT studies
Books
- Anderson, Lisa M. Black Women and the Changing Television Landscape. Bloomsbury Academic Press, 2023.
- Anderson, Lisa M. Black Feminism in Contemporary Drama. University of Illinois Press, 2008.
- Anderson, Lisa M. Mammies No More: Images of Black Women on Stage and Screen. Rowman and Littlefield, 1998.
Book Chapters
- “But Your Whiteness Will Not Protect You: Whiteness and Covid-19,” Pandemic Pedagogies:Exposing Social (In)justice in the Time of COVID-19, ed. Jennifer Sandlin, Mako Ward, Michelle Vlahoulis, and Christine Holman. NY: DIO Press, expected November 2020.
- “Black Feminism, Lewis R. Gordon, and the Demands of Intersectional Thought,” in Black Existentialism: Essays on the Transformative Thought of Lewis R. Gordon, ed. Danielle Davis. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 2019, p. 97-104.
Articles
- Anderson, Lisa M. "Enslavement, Freedom, and Marronage in N.K. Jemisin’s The Broken Earth Trilogy," African American Review 56:3 (215-230), Fall 2023.
- Anderson, Lisa M. “What Kind of Legacy? Between Cultural Assimilation and Race Consciousness,” Semiotics 2013, p. 175-184
- Kuan, Chwen-Woan and Anderson, Lisa M. "Rewriting Historical Narratives: Adrienne Kennedy's Historic Interventions." Performance Research 12.3 (2007).
- Krasner, David, Anderson, Lisa, George-Greaves, Nadine, Harris, John, Lewis, Barbara, Miller, Henry, Young, Harvey. "African American Theatre." Theatre Survey v. 47, n3, 2006, p. 192.
- Anderson, Lisa M. “When Race Matters: Reading Race in Richard III and Macbeth,” in Colorblind Shakespeare: New Perspectives on Race and Performance, ed. Ayanna Thompson. NY: Routledge, 2006, p. 89-102.
- Anderson, Lisa M. "Violence, Tragedy, and Race in Kia Corthron's Wake Up Lou Riser." Journal of Dramatic Theory and Criticism 2005, v. 19, n.2, p. 71-84.
- Anderson, Lisa M. "Thelma "Butterfly" McQueen". Notable American Women (2004).
- Anderson, Lisa M. "From Blackface to 'Genuine Negroes': Nineteenth Century Minstrelsy and the Icon of the 'Negro,'" in Theatre Research International, 21 no. 1 (Spring 1996): 17-23.
Luce Foundation Grant, The New ‘American’ Conversation: Belonging and Identity Re-Loaded, co-PI with Pardis Mahdavi, Jacqueline Martinez, and Lois Brown, Spring 2020 (20% effort, Funded, $250,000)
Luce Foundation Grant, The New “American” Conversation: Belonging and Identity Re-Loaded, co-PI with Pardis Mahdavi, Jacqueline Martinez, and Lois Brown, Spring 2020 (20% effort, Funded, $50000)
IHR Seed Grant, “The New American Conversation,” co-PI (with Pardis Mahdavi, Jacqueline Martinez, and Lois Brown), Spring 2020 (20% effort, Funded, $8750)
Courses
2025 Fall
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| GRD 791 | Seminar |
2025 Spring
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| JUS 799 | Dissertation |
| WST 792 | Research |
| WST 799 | Dissertation |
2024 Fall
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| JUS 799 | Dissertation |
| WST 792 | Research |
| WST 799 | Dissertation |
| GRD 791 | Seminar |
| WST 591 | Seminar |
| WST 591 | Seminar |
2024 Summer
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| JUS 799 | Dissertation |
| WST 799 | Dissertation |
2024 Spring
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| JUS 792 | Research |
| WST 792 | Research |
| WST 799 | Dissertation |
| WST 790 | Reading and Conference |
| WST 593 | Applied Project |
| JUS 799 | Dissertation |
2023 Fall
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| JUS 799 | Dissertation |
| WST 792 | Research |
| WST 799 | Dissertation |
| GRD 791 | Seminar |
| AFR 317 | Genes, Race and Society |
| AFR 317 | Genes, Race and Society |
| JUS 317 | Genes, Race and Society |
| JUS 317 | Genes, Race and Society |
2023 Spring
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| JUS 799 | Dissertation |
| WST 792 | Research |
| WST 799 | Dissertation |
| WST 790 | Reading and Conference |
2022 Fall
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| JUS 799 | Dissertation |
| WST 792 | Research |
| WST 799 | Dissertation |
| GRD 791 | Seminar |
| WST 640 | Visual & Narrative Culture |
2022 Spring
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| JUS 792 | Research |
| WST 792 | Research |
| WST 790 | Reading and Conference |
2021 Fall
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| JUS 792 | Research |
| WST 792 | Research |
2021 Summer
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| WST 792 | Research |
| WST 690 | Reading and Conference |
2021 Spring
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| WST 690 | Reading and Conference |
| WST 701 | Resrch Design & Prop Dev |
| SST 691 | Seminar |
2020 Fall
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| WST 799 | Dissertation |
| SST 691 | Seminar |
| WST 100 | Women, Gender, and Society |
2020 Summer
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| WST 799 | Dissertation |
| WST 792 | Research |
| WST 795 | Continuing Registration |
Conference Papers and Presentations:
- Anderson, Lisa M. “From the Screen to the Street: Black Queer Social Media Activism,” Caribbean Philosophical Association, Riviera Maya, Mexico, June 2015
- Anderson, Lisa M. “Transgressing Genomics: Feminist Interventions into the Science of ‘Difference,’” National Women’s Studies Association, San Juan, Puerto Rico, November 2014
- Anderson, Lisa M. “Looking Through the Middle Passage: Population Genomics, Genealogy, and Race,” Caribbean Philosophical Association, St. Louis, June 2014
- Anderson, Lisa M. “What Kind of Legacy? Between Cultural Assimilation and Race Consciousness,” Semiotic Society of America Annual Conference, October 2013
- Anderson, Lisa M. “Your African Ancestry (?): Understanding (or not) Genomics and Ancestry,” Interdisciplinary Coalition of North American Phenomenologists Annual Conference, May 2013
- Anderson, Lisa M. and Martinez, Jacqueline M. "Cultural and Familial Heritage in Racially Divisive Contexts: A Communicology of Intergenerational Masking and Memory." International Association for Semiotic Studies (Oct 2012).
- Anderson, Lisa M. "Communicology as Feminist Research Method." Interdisciplinary Coalition of North American Phenomenologists Annual Conference (May 2011).
- Dorothy Chansky, Heather Nathans, et. al. "Just Out 2: Minding the Gaps, or, How We Fill the 'Holes' in American Theatre History.". Associaion for Theatre in Higher Education Annual Conference (Aug 2009).
- Anderson, Lisa. "Black Feminist Theatre: A Look Back." Women in Theatre Annual Preconference (Jul 2004).
National Women's Studies Association
Caribbean Philosophical Association
Semiotic Society of America
Interdisciplinary Coalition of North American Phenomenologists
International Communicology Institute Fellow
Completed Graduate Mentoring:
Doctoral Committee Member, Elisabeth Zoe Lacey, Spring 2022
Doctoral Committee Chair, Cassandra Collier, Spring 2020
Doctoral Committee Member, Shahan D. Bellamy, Spring 2020
Master’s Thesis Chair, Audrey Hawkes, Fall 2019
Master’s Thesis Committee Member, Kimberly Koerth, Fall 2019
Doctoral Committee Co-Chair, Sakena Young-Scaggs, August 2019
Master’s Thesis Committee, Elizabeth Zoe Fry (Social and Cultural Pedagogy MA), August 2017
Doctoral Dissertation Committee, Yamrot Girma Teshome, May 2016
Doctoral Dissertation Committee, Victoria Namuggala, August 2016
Doctoral Dissertation Committee, Rachel A. Reinke, May 2016
Doctoral Dissertation Committee, Craig Kosnik, Theatre for Youth, May 2014
Doctoral Dissertation Chair, Tabitha Chester, Theatre and Performance of the Americas, August 2013
Doctoral Dissertation committee, Kate Harper, Gender Studies, May 2013
Master’s Thesis Committee, Michael Broyles, Religious Studies, August 2013
Doctoral Dissertation Chair, Kishonna L. Gray, May 2011
- Associate Dean, Academic Affairs, Graduate College January 2022-present
- Deputy Director, School of Social Transforamtion, May 2020-June 2021
- Associate Director for Graduate Studies, School of Social Transformation, July 2019-July 2020
- Secretary for Black Feminisms and Performance Studies, Caribbean Philosophical ASsociation, 2020-2023
- Faculty Head, Women and Gender Studies, July 2014-July 2019
- Graduate Committee, Chair (Graduate director) (2010 - 2014, 2018-2019)
- CLAS Academic Standards Committee, Fall 2018-Spring 2021
- Program Review Committee (Chair), University of Minnesota, October 2019
- Book manuscript reviewer for Lexington Books (2014), University of Mississippi Press (2016), Northwestern University Press (2016), Demeter Press (2019)
- Ad-hoc reviewer, Meridians, 2019-2020
- Institute for Humanities Research, Advisory Board Member (2008 - 2013)
- Graduate Committee, Member (2009 - 2010)
- Personnel Committee, Member (2009 - 2010)
- Graduate Committee, Member (2008 - 2010)
- Institute for Humanities Research, Advisory Board Member (2008 - 2010)
- Personnel Committee, member (2008 - 2009)
- Search Committee: SWBI, Chair (2006 - 2006)
- Graduate committee, School of Justice and Social Inquiry, Member (2005 - 2006)
- Academic Senate Personnel Committee, Member (2002 - 2006)
- CLAS Senate/Academic Senate, Senator (2000 - 2006)
- Women and Theatre Program, List Manager (1995 - 2005)
- Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Keynote Speaker, Fall Luncheon (2005 - 2005)
- Meridians, Reviewer (2004 - 2004)
- Oxford University Press, Reviewer (2004 - 2004)
- National Communication Association, Chair, Semiotics and Communication Commission (2003 - 2003)
- Oxford University Press, Book proposal reviewer (2003 - 2003)
- Black Theatre Association/ATHE, Publications Committee (2001 - 2002)
- Semiotics and Communication Commission, National Communication Association, Vice-Chair Elect (2001 - 2002)
- Semiotic Society of America, Executive Committee (1999 - 2002)
- Casa Mesa Estates Youth Program, Lecturer (2002 - 2002)