Ayanna Thompson

Ayanna Thompson is Regents Professor of English at Arizona State University. She is also director of the Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies. Thompson is the author of numerous books, including Blackface, Teaching Shakespeare with Purpose: A Student-Centred Approach, and Passing Strange: Shakespeare, Race, and Contemporary America. Inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2021, she is a Shakespeare Scholar in Residence at The Public Theater in New York. A past president of the Shakespeare Association of America, Thompson is a board member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, Folger Shakespeare Library, National Parks Arts Foundation, and Play On Shakespeare.