Nicole Hodges Persley

NICOLE HODGES PERSLEY

Department of American Studies and Ethnicity  Waite Phillips Hall (WPH) 303 University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089-4033  (310) 977-2692  [email protected]

EDUCATION

University of Southern California, Los Angeles 2002-present Department of American Studies and Ethnicity Doctoral Candidate, PhD Expected, May 2008.

University of California, Los Angeles M.A. African American Studies 1995-1997

Spelman College B.A. French 1991-1993

Dissertation: Sampling Blackness: Performing African Americanness in Hip-hop Theater and Performance.

Committee: Dorinne Kondo (Chair); David Romàn; Meiling Cheng; Ruth Wilson Gilmore, Fred Moten

Fields: Cultural Studies; Theater History; African Diaspora Studies; African American Studies; African American Theater and Performance Studies.

PUBLICATIONS Performance Review, “The Color Purple.” Theatre Journal, Forthcoming, March, 2008. “A Hip-hop History Timeline” in Icons of Hip-hop: An Encyclopedia of the Music and Culture. New York: Greenwood Press, 2007.

Performance Review, “The Watts Tower Project.” Theatre Journal, December 2006. Vol. 58.4 688-690. “I’m Coming Out: Confessions of a Hip-hop Fan,” Chicken Soup for the African American Soul. New York: Canfield Publishing, 2005. FELLOWSHIPS/GRANTS

University of Southern California Provost Dissertation Fellowship 2005-2006 James Irvine Foundation Fellowship 2002-2005 James Irvine Summer Dissertation Workshop Grant 2005 West African Research Association Summer Research Fellowship 1997 Nicole Hodges Persley February 2008 2

The Smithsonian Institute, Minority Fellow 1992-1993

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

The University of Southern California, Los Angeles School of Theater and Critical Studies “African American Theater 476” Adjunct Professor Spring 2007-present

Adjunct professor for eighteen undergraduates from various disciplines the history of African American Theater from the 19th century to the present. Employing a multimedia approach, the course focuses on the relevance of African American Theater to popular culture. My student evaluations ranked 4.9 on a 5.0 scale.

The University of Southern California, Los Angeles Department of American Studies and Ethnicity “Race and Class in Los Angeles”- Professor George Sanchez Graduate Teaching Assistant Fall 2005-Spring 2006

Delivered syllabus objectives for the course based on the lectures of the professor, lead discussion groups and administered all grades.

The University of Southern California, Los Angeles Department of American Studies and Ethnicity “Race and Class in the 1960s” - Professor Sharon Sekon Graduate Teaching Assistant Fall 2004-Spring 2005

Delivered syllabus objectives for the course based on the lectures of the professor, lead discussion groups and administered all grades.

The University of California, Los Angeles Department of French “French 101-102”- Supervisor Kim Jansma Graduate Lecturer Spring 1996-Fall 1997

Developed and delivered all course objectives. Instructed a basic class size of undergraduate students and administered all grades. All instruction performed in French.

The Heart Project, Los Angeles Theater Arts Program “Hip-hop Theater” Artist in Residence Spring 2004

Taught students basic tenets of Hip-hop Theater, basic theater production values and directed them in writing and performing their own plays using Hip-hop as critical pedagogy. Nicole Hodges Persley February 2008 3

RESEARCH EXPERIENCE

Harvard University Programs Director, Hip-hop Archive 2001-2003 Director: Dr. Marcyliena Morgan, Professor of African and African American Studies I supervised all research and development for the archive collections. Responsible for managing a staff of six advanced graduate coordinators who developed individual research projects on local Hip-hop culture in cities across the United States.

Stanford University Programs Director Hip-hop Archive 2003-2005 Director: Dr. Marcyliena Morgan

Responsibilities included developing researching and developing the Global Hip-hop component of the archive collection. Delegated research and writing assignments to graduate students on various cities throughout Europe, Asia and Africa. Also provided acquisitions lists for archival material, aided in international conference organizing, developing all staff reports and expanding the web presence for sister sites.

UCLA Assistant Director African Diaspora Project 2001-2002

Directors: Dr. Marcyliena Morgan and Dr. Valerie Smith I was the key researcher on West Africa and France for this project which explored artistic, social and political culture in various African Diasporic locales. Responsibilities included managing a staff of six PhD students, editing scholarly contributions, managing graduate student research and planning community interface with key scholars in the fields of African American and African Diaspora Studies.

Smithsonian Institute Minority Fellow 1992-1993 Director: Joanna Banks Responsibilities included research, development of education materials, and community outreach teaching with youth. I also participated in archival acquisitions procedures, cataloguing and historical writing.

TEACHING AREAS Theater and Performance Studies; New Approaches to Qualitative Inquiry; Theater as Activism; Trends in Global Popular Culture; African Diaspora Studies; Improvisation in Social and Artistic Movements; Cultural Studies and African Diaspora Theatre

CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS “The Notorious Nikki S Lee: Performing African American Female Identities in Hip- hop Performance,” The Bellarmine Forum, Loyola Marymount University, Program in American Cultures, November 2, 2007 (Invited talk) “Performing Blackness in Hip-hop Art,” Stanford University, Department of Communications, October 24, 2007 (Invited Talk) Nicole Hodges Persley February 2008 4

“Traveling Shows: Movement, Memory, and Theatricality in Spatial Formation,” American Studies Annual Conference, Philadelphia, PA, October 2007 (Panel Chair) “The Notorious Nikki S Lee: Performing African American Female Identities in Hip-hop Performance” American Association of Theater in Higher Education Annual Conference, July 2007, New Orleans, Louisiana (Paper presented in absence) “Actin’ Black: Danny Hoch and the Improvisation of Hip-hop Identities,” Expanding the Boundaries of Race and Performance in American Studies, American Studies Association Annual Conference, October 2006, Oakland, California (Panel Organizer)

“Freestyle Theater: Sampling Hip-hop and Improv as Critical Pedagogy for Theater -in- Education,” Interventionist Theater Conference, University of Leeds, England, July 2004

“Dreaming Christie Barbie: Race, Violence and the Cinderella Myth,” Performing Ethnicity International Conference City University of New York, September 2004, New York, New York (Paper/Performance)

“Un-becoming: an improvisational multi-centric self-performance,” On the Edge: West Coast Performance in the Americas, College Art Association Annual Conference, September 2004, Portland, Oregon (Performance)

“The Death of the Last Blackman in the Entire Universe: The Re-Mix,” All Eyes on Me: Tupac Shakur as an American Folk Hero Conference. Harvard University, October 2003, Boston, Massachusetts (Performance) “Black Love in the African Diaspora,” Black Love Conference, University of California, February 2001, Los Angeles, California (Paper-Performance)

PERFORMANCE EXPERIENCE Actress-Solo Artist

I am a professional actress and solo artist. My solo work has been featured at The UCLA Arm and Hammer Museum, The World Stage, and several academic conferences. I also have credits in film and television mediums. A full professional resume including television, film and theatre credits is available upon request. Director Theater Le Van D. Hawkins’ “In 30 Days,” Highways Performance Space, 2001. Film Shorts “Fade” - A 28 minute dramatic comedy about Los Angeles Hipsters, 2001. “Living like a Refugee” – A 10 minute documentary about east African Refugee youth in Los Angeles, 1999 Producer

I co-founded Mountaintop Players Ensemble in 1998 and successfully produced ten world premiere productions by emerging playwrights. The company boasts prestigious alumni Nicole Hodges Persley February 2008 5 including Emmy winning playwright and screen writer Stephen Mc Feeley and playwright Colette Freedman who was voted "One of 50 to Watch" by the Dramatists Guild in 2007. LANGUAGES English – native language French – speak fluently; read and write with high proficiency Spanish– speak, read, and write with basic competence. Italian- read with basic competence Arabic- travel competency

PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS AND AFFILIATIONS

ASA (American Studies Association) ATHE (American Theatre in Higher Education) BTA (Black Theater Association) CAA (College Art Association) NAAS (National Association of African American Studies) SAG/AFTRA (Screen Actors Guild/American Federation of Television and Radio)

REFERENCES

Dr. Dorinne Kondo Department of Anthropology Grace Ford Salvatori Hall, Room 127 3601 Watt Way Los Angeles, CA 90089 Phone: (213) 740-1910 E-mail: [email protected]

Dr. Meiling Cheng USC School of Theatre, 1029 Childs Way, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0791 tel. (213) 821-2744 Email: [email protected]

Dr. David Roman Waite Phillips Hall (WPH) 303 University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA 90089-4033 Phone: (213)740-2821 E-mail: [email protected]