Chandra Owenby Hopkins

Chandra Owenby Hopkins is the Dean of Converse College for Women. She received her bachelor’s degree in Theatre from Brenau University, her Master of Fine Arts from Virginia Commonwealth University, and her Ph.D. in Theatre and Performance Studies from the University of Kansas. As an actor, director, and dramaturg she has worked with the Richmond Triangle Players, Kansas Summer Theatre, Georgia Shakespeare, and Tennessee Shakespeare Company.

Scholarly & Research Activity

An award-winning teacher and scholar, she has received the Cato Award for Faculty Excellence from Converse College and the Robert A. Schanke Theatre Research Award from the Mid-America Theatre Conference. Her work has also been recognized by a grant from the AARP and the Council of Independent Colleges to develop and direct a devised production, Growing Old: Food and Oral History in Performance, with college and older adult community participants which explored social isolation and food insecurity. Her research explores the intersections between theatrical performance and collective memory ranging from musical theatre to the cultural histories of the American south. She has published articles and reviews in Theatre History Studies, Theatre Annual, Theatre Survey, Theatre Journal, and a chapter in Palgrave’s Performing Objects and Theatrical Things.