Lisa B. Thompson

Lisa B. Thompson is an artist/scholar known for her contributions to both academia and the performing arts. Her artistic endeavors include acclaimed plays that are lauded for their insightful, and satirical exploration of Black life, with a particular focus on the experiences of the Black middle class. Her plays Single Black Female, Underground, Monroe, The Mamalogues, and The Black Feminist Guide to the Human Body have been staged across the United States, off-Broadway, and internationally. The distinguished scholar’s works have also enriched the academic discourse on Black feminist theory, theatre, film, and cultural studies. She is the author of Beyond the Black Lady: Sexuality and the New African American Middle Class, as well as articles about figures such as bell hooks, Melvin Van Peebles, and August Wilson. Her public scholarship includes co-hosting and co-producing the Black Austin Matters podcast, a platform that highlights Black life, culture, and politics in Central Texas.

Thompson’s artistic and academic achievements have garnered her awards and support from a number of institutions including the American Council of Learned Societies, Hedgebrook, MacDowell, Millay Arts, National Performance Network, Michele R. Clayman Institute for Gender Research, the University of California’s Office of the President, and the W. E. B. DuBois Research Institute at the Hutchins Center. She is currently the Bobby and Sherri Patton Professor of African and African Diaspora Studies at the University of Texas at Austin, as well as an affiliated faculty member in Theatre and Dance, Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, and English.

Lisa B. Thompson is a playwright, lyricist, and writer whose award-winning creative and scholarly works include Single Black Female, Beyond the Black Lady: Sexuality and the New African American Middle Class, Underground, Monroe, and The Mamalogues and The Black Feminist Guide to the Human Body. She has published articles and reviews in August Wilson in Context, Theatre Journal, Journal of American Drama, Theatre Survey, NPR, Criterion Collection, The Huffington Post and The Washington Post. Thompson’s award-winning plays have been produced Off-Broadway, throughout the US, and internationally by Crossroads Theatre, Theatre Rhinoceros, St. Louis Black Repertory Company, the Vortex, The Lorraine Hansberry Theatre, Soul Rep Theatre Company, Austin Playhouse, Ensemble Theatre, Chiswick Playhouse, and The National Black Theatre Festival among others.

The artist/scholar’s work has been supported by a number of institutions including the American Council of Learned Societies, Hedgebrook, MacDowell, Millay Arts, National Performance Network, Michele R. Clayman Institute for Gender Research, the Five Colleges; the University of California’s Office of the President; Stanford University’s Center for Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity, Center for the Study of Race and Democracy, The New School, The Whiteley Center, and the W.E.B. DuBois Research Institute at the Hutchins Center. Along with Richard J. Reddick she co-hosts and co-produces Black Austin Matters, a podcast and radio segment on KUT: Austin’s NPR station that explores Black life, culture, and politics in Central Texas. 

Thompson is the Bobby and Sherri Patton Endowed Professor of African and African Diaspora Studies at the University of Texas at Austin where she is also an affiliate faculty member of the departments of Theatre and Dance; English; and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies; and the John L. Warfield Center for African and African American Studies.  She currently serves as the College of Liberal Arts’ inaugural Advisor to the Dean for Faculty Mentoring and Support at the University of Texas at Austin.

An outstanding scholar, writer, and administrator, Lisa B. Thompson has also been recognized for her teaching by the Warfield Center for African and African American Studies, Services for Students with Disabilities, and the Texas Exes.