First Name
Miriam
Middle Name
Hahn
Last Name
Thomas
City
Country
State or Province
Job Title
Assistant Curator of Adult Programs
Biography
Miriam is a theatre historian and dramaturg, an educator, and a freelance editor. She is currently based in Kalamazoo, Michigan, where she serves as Associate Programs Director for the Arts Council of Greater Kalamazoo. Originally from Dearing, Georgia, Miriam received her Ph.D. in Theatre and a Certificate in Performance Studies from Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio. She received her M.A. in Theatre from the University of South Carolina, and her B.A. in Theatre and English, with a concentration in Creative Writing, from Wofford College. Courses taught include Theatre History and Literature, Dramatic Theory, Contemporary Drama, Dramaturgy, Script Analysis, Acting, Directing, and introductory courses in theatre, film, communications, and the humanities.
Miriam’s current research centers on strategic performative appropriations of Indigenous American cultures, histories, and identities during the counterculture movement of the 1960s, a topic she explores in her dissertation, Playing Hippies and Indians: Acts of Cultural Colonization in the Theatre of the American Counterculture. In 2012, she was awarded the Charles M. Shanklin Award for Research Excellence for her paper “’As If There Were No Damages’: Representing Native American Spirituality in the Dramas of Lope de Vega and Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz” at Bowling Green State University. Miriam is a member of the Mid-America Theatre Conference, the Mid-Atlantic Popular and American Culture Association, and the International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry, and her published work appears in Ecumenica: Journal of Performance and Theatre Symposium.
Production dramaturgy credits include Antigone, Into the Woods, Private Eyes, Sonia Flew, Iphigenia and Other Daughters, and Copenhagen. Miriam has served as director or assistant director for productions of Pipeline, No Roosters in the Desert, Antigone, and Sonia Flew. She has also appeared onstage in roles such as Jean in Dead Man’s Cell Phone, Cel in The Most Massive Woman Wins, Claire Zachanassian in The Visit, and Gwendolyn Fairfax in The Importance of Being Earnest.
Miriam’s current research centers on strategic performative appropriations of Indigenous American cultures, histories, and identities during the counterculture movement of the 1960s, a topic she explores in her dissertation, Playing Hippies and Indians: Acts of Cultural Colonization in the Theatre of the American Counterculture. In 2012, she was awarded the Charles M. Shanklin Award for Research Excellence for her paper “’As If There Were No Damages’: Representing Native American Spirituality in the Dramas of Lope de Vega and Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz” at Bowling Green State University. Miriam is a member of the Mid-America Theatre Conference, the Mid-Atlantic Popular and American Culture Association, and the International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry, and her published work appears in Ecumenica: Journal of Performance and Theatre Symposium.
Production dramaturgy credits include Antigone, Into the Woods, Private Eyes, Sonia Flew, Iphigenia and Other Daughters, and Copenhagen. Miriam has served as director or assistant director for productions of Pipeline, No Roosters in the Desert, Antigone, and Sonia Flew. She has also appeared onstage in roles such as Jean in Dead Man’s Cell Phone, Cel in The Most Massive Woman Wins, Claire Zachanassian in The Visit, and Gwendolyn Fairfax in The Importance of Being Earnest.
Areas of Expertise
Language(s) spoken
Interested in freelance opportunities
Yes