Lisa B. Thompson

Lisa B. Thompson (Ph.D.) is a scholar, playwright, librettist and the Bobby and Sherri Patton Endowed Professor of African and African Diaspora Studies at the University of Texas at Austin. She is also an affiliate faculty member of the departments of Theatre and Dance; English; and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies; and the John L. Warfield Center for African and African American Studies. She is the inaugural Advisor to the Dean of the College of Liberal Arts for Faculty Mentoring and Support. Thompson's plays include Single Black Female, Underground, Monroe, The Mamalogues, and The Black Feminist Guide to the Human Body which have been produced around the country, off-Broadway and internationally. Her public scholarship includes co-hosting and co-producing with Richard J. Reddick Black Austin Matters, a podcast and bi-monthly radio segment on KUT, Austin’s NPR station. 

She has received fellowships and research support for her scholarship and art from several institutions including the American Council of Learned Societies, Hedgebrook, MacDowell, Millay Arts, the W.E.B. DuBois Research Institute at the Hutchins Center, Texas Performing Arts, the Five Colleges and the University of California’s Office of the President.

What do you enjoy most about being a part of UT Theatre and Dance?

What is your favorite thing about Austin?

The delicious food (including grocery stores!), and the amazing Austin theatre scene.