Dr. Michael Mark Chemers

Assistant Professor of Dramatic Literature
Dramaturgy Option Coordinator

Phone: (412) 268-2399

E-Mail: chemers@andrew.cmu.edu


Classes

54-785/786 Colloquium
54-885/886 Colloquium
54-175/176 Conservatory Hour
54-387/388 Dramaturgy : Production III
54-422/423 Dramaturgy and Theatre Studies Thesis
54-451/451 Dramaturgy and Theatre Studies Thesis
54-109 Dramaturgy I
54-110 Dramaturgy II
54-489 Dramaturgy: Internship
54-487 Dramaturgy: Production IV
54-177/178 Foundations of Drama I
54-281/282 Foundations of Drama II
54-789/780 Graduate Dramatic Literature Colloquium (Antiquity to Modern)
54-880 Graduate Thesis
54-381/2 History of Drama
54-609 Independent Study in Dramaturgy
54-580/581 Interdisciplinary Play Symposia
54-495 Internship
54-491/492 Theatre Studies Thesis
Michael Mark Chemers first came to Carnegie Mellon in 2003 as a Postdoctoral Fellow of the Center for the Arts in Society, and joined the School of Drama faculty in 2004. He is the founder and director of the School’s Dramaturgy BFA Program. Michael holds a PhD in Theatre History and Theory from the University of Washington (2001) and an MFA in Playwriting from Indiana University (1997). He was a Wimmer Faculty Fellow of the Eberly Center in 2006. He is the author of Ghost Light: An Introductory Handbook for Dramaturgy (Southern Illinois University Press, 2010) and Staging Stigma: A Critical History of the American Freak Show (Palgrave, 2008), which was honored by the Association for Theatre in Higher Education with an Honorable Mention for the Outstanding Book Award of 2009. Michael’s work as a theatre historian and theorist has appeared in Modern Drama, Nineteenth Century Theatre and Film, Theatre Survey, Theatre Topics, New England Theatre Journal, Journal of Theatre and Performance, TheatreForum, Comparative Drama, and Disability Studies Quarterly. Michael has also written chapters for books on South Park and The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

With J.A. Ball, he adapted a Lysistrata (Carnegie Mellon University Press, 2007) that has been revived at universities across the US. He authored the independently-produced film When Tyrants Kiss (2004) which appeared in the Three Rivers Film Festival. His playwriting has received many national awards and has been performed across the country. He has over two decades of experience in dramaturgy, most recently with the Leon Katz International Theatre Collective headquartered in Smolyan, Bulgaria. He also acts, most recently appearing in the School’s The London Cuckolds.

Michael lives in Pittsburgh with his wife Farhana and his son Zain. In his spare time he collects masks, teaches martial arts at USA Professional Karate, and juggles things that are on fire.