David Donkor
Assistant Professor in Performance and Africana Studies
E-mail: dadonkor@tamu.edu
Telephone: (979) 862-8531
Bio
David Afriyie Donkor studied at the School of Performing Arts, University ofGhana (Dip.Th.Arts, 1991), Minnesota State University at Mankato (M.F.A.Directing, 1995; M.S Multidisciplinary Studies, 1998), and then as aGwendolyn Carter Doctoral Fellow at Northwestern University (Ph.D,Performance Studies, 2008).
His research areas straddle Africana Theatre, Performance, Popular Cultureand Folklore; it has addressed present interests such the interplay of statecultural policy, multinational marketing strategies, urban popular theatreand a folk-trickster ethos, in Ghana's liberalizing economy; it has, also,began to address new interests such as African migrants' urbanfestivals/cultural performances in the United States, and the relationshipbetween postcolonial nationalism and theatre architecture in West Africa.His publications have recently appeared in the journal Cultural Studies andin the newly published volume The Legacy of Efua Sutherland: Pan-AfricanCultural Activism. He has presented papers and led workshops at severalconferences including Performance Studies International, the Association ofTheatre in Higher Education, and the African Studies Associations of theU.S.A., Australasia and the Pacific.
David Donkor has adapted and directed folktales, personal narratives andliterature for stage in productions such as "Spiders and Spirits: A Tale ofTwo Tricksters" (in collaboration with UC Riverside Dance Scholar/PerformerPriya Srinivasan); "Two Takes on Hurricane Katrina," "Strange and BitterFruit" a memorial to victims of the 1906 Springfield Missouri lynching, andhis own one-person show, "A Travelers Tale" on migration and memory. He hasworked as an actor/director with the resident theatre company of theUniversity of Ghana and with Penumbra Theatre Company in Saint PaulMinnesota. In 1993 he received the Entertainment Critics and ReviewersAssociation of Ghana (ECRAG) Talent award for his acting role in the film"Shoeshine Boy" and for his lyrics and melody for the theme song of the samefilm.
Directing, Introduction to Africana Studies, and Popular Music in theAfrican Diaspora, are courses that he has taught at Texas A&M recently.
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