Valerie Barnes Lipscomb

Valerie Barnes Lipscomb is a Professor of English at the University of South Florida's Sarasota-Manatee Campus and serves as Associate Chair. Her research focuses on theatrical representations of aging, with notable publications including Performing Age in Modern Drama and co-editing Staging Age. She leads the Palgrave Handbook of Literature and Aging and co-edits the journal Age, Culture, Humanities. Lipscomb chairs the Modern Language Association’s Age Studies Forum and serves as treasurer of the North American Network in Aging Studies.

Education: Ph.D. (University of South Florida, 2004), M.L.A. (University of South Florida), and B.A. (University of Iowa). Her academic roles include teaching courses like Modern Drama and Literary Criticism. Awards include the 2009 Excellence in Teaching Award and the 2018 Women in Leadership & Philanthropy Faculty Research Award. She has secured grants for international travel and campus initiatives.

Research interests span aging in literature and performance, with a focus on countering ageism through theatre. Her work bridges cultural studies, drama, and interdisciplinary aging research. Recent articles address dementia representation, presidential age rhetoric, and the cultural conundrums of aging in modern drama.

Awards highlight her pedagogical and scholarly contributions, including recognition for student organizations and academic leadership. She actively collaborates with institutions to integrate arts into age-friendly communities, emphasizing theatrical interventions for social change.