Stephanie Batiste

Dr. Stephanie Batiste is a Professor of Black Studies and English at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB). She holds affiliate appointments in Theater and Dance and Comparative Literature. Her research integrates performance studies, race, and cultural imperialism, with a focus on African American literature and post-colonial theory. She is the author of Darkening Mirrors: Imperial Representation in Depression Era African American Performance, which won the MLA William Sanders Scarborough Prize.

Education: A.B. (Sociology, Princeton University), M.Phil. and Ph.D. (American Studies, George Washington University). She previously taught at Carnegie Mellon University, Stanford University, and UCLA, and served as Acting Chair of UCSB’s Black Studies Department (2011–2012).

Research areas include Black performance cultures, race and violence, and millennial Los Angeles. Current projects explore 'Metaphysics of Resurrection,' analyzing grief and community through Black performance. She actively practices performance art, with works like Stacks of Obits and Blue Gold & Butterflies.

Awards include a LA Creation Residency at Bootleg Theater and grants from the Consortium for Black Studies. She directs the Hemispheric South/s Research Initiative and co-edits the NYU Press series Performance and American Cultures.