2021-2022 AAC Fellows

The AAC is excited to announce our 2021-2022 Fellow Cohort:

Samah Choudhury is an Assistant Professor in the department of Philosophy and Religion at Ithaca College. Her research surrounds South and Southwest Asian Muslims, humor, performance, race, gender and sexuality. She is writing a book about how Muslims have articulated themselves through the medium of standup comedy in the U.S., and the ways that Islam gains recognition or becomes obscured under the specter and demands of U.S. secularity. Her Ph.D. is from UNC Chapel Hill.

Theodore S. Gonzalves is a scholar of comparative cultural studies. Theo is curator of Asian Pacific American History at the National Museum of American History and is currently serving as interim director of the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center.

Theo’s publications include Stage Presence: Conversations with Filipino American Performing Artists, The Day the Dancers Stayed: Performing in the Filipino/American Diaspora, Carlos Villa and the Integrity of Spaces, and Filipinos in Hawaiʻi. He is currently serving on the editorial board of Amerasia Journal and is a founding editorial board member of Alon: Journal for Filipinx American and Diasporic Studies.

Theo co-founded the artist-run recording label, Jeepney Dash Records; played keyboards for Bobby Banduria; and served as the musical director for the tongue in A mood Theatre. He has also written, produced, and performed several scores for independent film projects.

Generous support for Theo’s scholarly and creative works include recognition as a senior Fulbright Scholar, a Moeson fellow at the Library of Congress, a senior fellow at the Smithsonian Institution, and a Meet the Composer Awardee.

Sean Metzger is Associate Dean for Faculty and Students and a professor in the UCLA School of Theater, Film, and Television. He has published Chinese Looks: Fashion, Performance Race (2014) and The Chinese Atlantic: Seascapes and the Theatricality of Globalization (2020) both with Indiana University Press. He has coedited six collections of essays and a volume of plays and authored more than 50 articles and reviews. He is the former president of Performance Studies international and the editor of Theatre Journal.