Center for Success of Women Faculty

What is your current job title and responsibilities?
Professor of Theatre; Artistic Director; Coordinator of the Graduate Programs in Theatre
Department of Theatre; School of Performing Arts; College of Arts and Humanities

What is your history at UCF and before UCF?
I joined UCF in 1999 as Assistant Professor of Theatre; In 2001 I became Coordinator of Graduate Studies and Research in Theatre; I began my current responsibilities as the Artistic Director in Fall 2016.

What is your academic background?
I received Ph.D. in Theatre Studies at the University of Michigan.

What is your favorite UCF memory?
This one is hard to pinpoint since I recall many memorable moments and events connected to UCF. Perhaps most significant ones for me are seeing my students getting recognized for their scholarly and artistic achievements. The most recent of those moments is the performance of The Life is a Dream Project directed by my graduate student last year.

If you could change one thing at UCF, what would it be?
Creating more opportunities and venues for collaborative interdisciplinary projects.

What is one piece of advice you would like to share with your colleagues?
Stay positive and engaged, and continue to seek new creative ways to invigorate yourself and inspire students.

If UCF was going to name something in your honor, what would you like it to be and why?
If we get new performance spaces, it would be nice to have a studio for interdisciplinary creative experiments. Perhaps in the future, this studio space could be named in my honor.

If you could have lunch with anyone at UCF (who you do not normally eat lunch with), who would you choose and why?
Liz Klonoff, the new Vice President for Research and Dean of the College of Graduate Studies.  I would like to share with her the work that we do in our graduate programs and the contributions that our graduate students make in the field of performing arts and arts education.

Who at UCF would you like to thank for your success?
I would like to thank my colleagues and students.

Name and describe a teacher or researcher from your past who truly inspired you and why.
I would like to thank all my professors at my undergraduate and graduate schools.
John Russell Brown at University of Michigan taught me to be bold, push my imagination, and always move forward.

What undergraduate or graduate class/program/experience inspired you the most and why?
My learning experiences at the Russian Academy of the Performing Arts (GITIS, Moscow) and University of Michigan were incredibly productive and inspiring. I was taught not to be afraid to take a risk and fail. Success is impossible without failure.

What is your favorite restaurant or food?
I like French and Mediterranean cuisine; Le Coq au Vin is one of my favorite restaurants in Orlando

What is your favorite movie, book or music?
There is really no one title when it comes to favorite books and films. I love Romantic composers—Franz Liszt and Frederic Chopin

What is your favorite vacation destination?
Paris, France