Brevard College Professor Receives Distinguished Theatre Studies Award

Brevard College Coordinator of Theatre Studies Dr. Kelly Carolyn Gordon recently received the Robert A. Schanke Research Award for excellence in theatre scholarship at the Mid-America Theatre Conference in Chicago.

Gordon, who has taught acting, directing, and script analysis as well as directed at Brevard College since 2008, was recognized for her article, “Class Act(resses): How Depression-Era Stage Actresses Utilized Conflicting Cultural Ideals for Women to Fight Economic Crisis in Their Community,” which she presented as part of the conference's Theatre History Symposium. The article discusses how actresses utilized elements of the conflicting “true” and “new” ideals for women to create a number of ingenious projects to aid unemployed theatre workers during this period. In particular, the paper focuses on Selena Royle’s founding of the Actor’s Dinner Club in New York City.

Gordon earned a Ph.D in theatre history, with a certificate in women’s studies, from the University of Georgia, and a master’s degree in directing from Emerson College. She completed her undergraduate work at Ohio Wesleyan University and the City of London Polytechnic. Gordon has also studied at Piven Theatre Workshop and La Mama's International Symposium for Directors in Umbria, Italy. Her writing has appeared in Lighting Dimensions, The Encyclopedia of Modern Drama and The Dallas Morning News. Last summer, Gordon was a Fellow of the Leadership Institute of the Association for Theatre in Higher Education. She is the granddaughter of actor Eddie Bracken.

The Robert A. Schanke Research Award is given annually to an untenured faculty presenter of the Theatre History Symposium and carries a cash award of $500 as well as subsequent publication of the paper in Theatre History Studies, the journal of the Mid-America Theatre Conference. Established in 2005, the award is named for Robert A. Schanke, a noted theatre educator and scholar for more than 40 years.