Gianina K.L. Strother

Gianina K.L. Strother is an Assistant Professor in the Department of African American and African Studies at Michigan State University (MSU), part of the College of Arts and Letters. She holds an M.F.A. in Interdisciplinary Arts and Media from Columbia College Chicago, a B.S. in Chemistry from Howard University, and is a Ph.D. Candidate in Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies at the University of Maryland, College Park. Her research focuses on Black Feminism, Performance Studies, and Critical Race Theory, with expertise in Dance Studies and Contemporary African American Theatre.

Since 2019, she has taught courses such as 'Black Theatre & Performance' and 'Dances of the African Diaspora' at the University of Maryland. She has presented scholarly work at conferences like the Association for Theatre in Higher Education and the Dance Studies Association, and her writings appear in the Journal of Dramatic Theory and Criticism and Dance Research Journal. She has received grants from the International Program for Creative Collaboration and Research, supporting projects in Ghana and Maryland.

Strother is also an artist, dramaturg, and voice actor, with performance credits at The Kennedy Center and the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery. She founded Jasiri Consulting, offering educational services on race and popular culture. Her community work includes roles as an Educational Adviser for the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation and as a Museum Educator at the Smithsonian museums in Washington, D.C.