Doria E. Charlson

Doria E. Charlson is a Visiting Assistant Professor in the Department of Theatre and Dance at the University of California, Davis. She holds a PhD in Theatre Arts and Performance Studies from Brown University, alongside MA degrees in History and Theatre Arts, and a BA in History from Stanford University. Her research explores migrant labor, spectacle, and precarity through an intersectional lens, combining archival work with embodied performance analysis. Charlson’s interdisciplinary approach integrates decades of dance training with professional chaplaincy experience, particularly in oncology care.

Education:

• PhD, Theatre Arts and Performance Studies, Brown University
• MA, History and Theatre Arts and Performance Studies, Brown University
• BA, History with minor in Drama, Stanford University

Research Interests: Her work interrogates how laboring bodies are commodified under capitalist systems, focusing on migrant laborers’ embodied experiences. This is informed by her dance training with institutions like ODC/Dance and Alvin Ailey School, as well as her chaplaincy work at UCSF Medical Center. She examines performance as both a site of exploitation and resistance, emphasizing spectacle’s role in reproducing economic structures.

Recent Projects: She curated the 2025 spring dance concert Rules of Play, featuring student choreographers, and organized auditions for (RE)Vision, a performance exploring systemic reimaginings through movement. Her writing appears in TDR, Women & Performance, and Dance Research Journal.

Professional Roles:

• Interreligious Chaplaincy Certificate, Graduate Theological Union
• Oncology Chaplain Residency, UCSF Medical Center
• Dance Training: ODC/Dance, Mark Morris Dance Group, Joffrey Ballet School

Labs/Teams: Active in curating student-driven performance projects, emphasizing collaborative creation and critical discourse in the Department of Theatre and Dance.