Samantha C. Lazar

Samantha Lazar received her B.A. in English from the University of Pennsylvania, with a concentration in poetry and minors in fine arts, classics, and theater. She received her M.F.A. in dramaturgy and dramatic criticism from the Yale School of Drama, with comprehensive studies in the historical European avant-garde and the American avant-garde movements. Her dissertation, “An Alternative Engine: Devised Theater and Urban Ecology in Philadelphia, 1995-2015” explores the interplay between contemporary devised performance, support networks within the city’s community of alternative artists, and urban revitalization in Philadelphia. Her writing has appeared in PAJ, Theater, and Praxis, as well as in journalistic publications; she has taught at institutions including Yale College, Yale School of Drama, Connecticut College, and Dartmouth College. She is currently the Curator of Academic Programming at Dartmouth's Hopkins Center for the Arts in Hanover, NH. She is also a theater artist, with scholarly and creative interests in devised performance, visual dramaturgy, environmental theater, and scenography.