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La Donna L. Forsgren

Rev. Thomas J. McDonagh, C.S.C. Associate Professor of Film, Television, Theatre

Rev. Thomas J. McDonagh, C.S.C. Associate Professor of Film, Television, Theatre
Office
230C DeBartolo Performing Arts Center
Notre Dame, IN 46556
Phone
574-631-7171
Email
lforsgre@nd.edu

CV

Website

Research interests

African American theatre and performance, Black musical theatre, Black Girlhood Studies, Black feminist and queer theories, the Black Liberation Struggle, Dramaturgy

Biography

La Donna L. Forsgren is an Associate Professor and holds joint appointments in the Department of Film, Television, and Theatre and the Department of Africana Studies at the University of Notre Dame, where she also serves as concurrent faculty in the Gender Studies Program. Her research focuses on the contributions of Black women theatre artists and activists, and she teaches courses in Black theatre and performance, feminist theories, and global theatre history.

She is the recipient of the American Society for Theatre Research’s Oscar G. Brockett Essay Prize (2020) and the Mid-America Theatre Conference’s Robert A. Schanke Theatre Research Award (2016) for her research in Black theatre history. Her first book, In Search of Our Warrior Mothers: Women Dramatists of the Black Arts Movement (Northwestern UP, 2018) investigates the works and careers of playwrights Martie Evans-Charles, J.e. Franklin, Sonia Sanchez, and Barbara Ann Teer. Her second book, Sistuhs in the Struggle: An Oral History of the Black Arts Movement Theatre and Performance (Northwestern UP, 2020), is a 2021 finalist for the Association for Theatre in Higher Education’s Outstanding Book Award.

Her most recent book, Black Queer Girlhood on the Musical Theatre Stage (Oxford UP, 2026), centers the works of contemporary Black women musical theatre artists, their representations of Black girlhood, and the critical reception of Black queer feminist spectators who “read” their works. As such, Black Queer Girlhood on the Musical Theatre Stage serves as a model for Black queer feminist praxis. Dr. Forsgren’s current work-in-progress, Naturally: The Performance and Politics of Black Hair in Theatre and Film, explores the cultural, historical, and political meaning of Black women’s hair throughout the Black diaspora.

In addition to publishing monographs, Dr. Forsgren has authored numerous articles in prestigious academic journals and contributed chapters to edited collections. However, she considers raising her six really awesome kids her most important achievement. When she is not teaching or writing, she enjoys cuddling with Phoebe and Penelope, listening to her preteen/teens serve the latest middle and high school “tea,” and binge-watching true crime shows on YouTube.

Research and Publications