Visit the Official #Charlottesville Dramaturgy page created by Anna Sorrentino

in support of the 2021 virtual production of #Charlottesville at the Abbey Theater of Dublin, Ohio

Zoom Post-Production Discussion with

Professors LaNitra Berger, Lauren Strauss, Dramaturg Debbie Minter Jackson

and the Creative Team of #Charlottesville

July 16, 2023 @ 6:00 PM

Register in advance for this zoom discussion 

Scroll to bottom of this page for details

A Timeline of Events

Zoom Discussion:

A CONVERSATION WITH SCHOLARS & CREATIVES & THE AUDIENCE - ONLINE

July 16, 2023 @ 6:00 PM

Register in advance for this zoom discussion 

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Charlottesville Post-Fringe Discussion with Voices Festival Production

with Special Guest Scholars and #Charlottesville Creatives:

• LaNitra M. Berger is an associate professor of history and art history and director of African and African American Studies at George Mason University. From 2010-2022, she was the senior director of the Office of Fellowships at Mason. Throughout her career, she has worked toward helping underrepresented students gain access to transformational education abroad opportunities and careers in public service. In 2021, she was elected President and Board Chair of NAFSA: Association of International Educators. Dr. Berger also serves on several education abroad advisory boards, the AIFS academic advisory board, and Globalize DC. She previously served as director of leadership and international programs at the National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education (NAFEO), where she managed a federal internship program and helped minority-serving institutions develop campus internationalization strategies. During her tenure at NAFEO, Dr. Berger organized three national dialogues on diversity in international education, bringing together college presidents, federal agencies, ambassadors, and nonprofit leaders to improve access to study abroad. She has also previously been a regular contributor to The American Prospect online magazine as a correspondent on race and gender issues. 

Dr. Berger is affiliate faculty in the Center for Mason Legacies and the Department of History and Art History at Mason, where she teaches classes on African and African American art, museum curating, and South African history and culture. As an art historian, her research focuses on the intersections of art and social activism in the Black and Jewish diasporas. In 2018, she designed and led a study abroad course in South Africa called, “Monuments, Museums, and Memory in South Africa” that challenged students to look at the intersections of art and social activism in public monuments and memorials. 

Dr. Berger received her MA and PhD in art history from Duke University and a bachelor’s degree in art history and international relations from Stanford University. She is the author of the NAFSA guide, “Exploring Education Abroad: A Guide for Racial and Ethnic Minority Participants.” She is also the editor of the book, “Social Justice and International Education: Research, Practice, and Perspectives,”published by NAFSA. Her first monograph, Irma Stern and the Racial Paradox of South African Modern Art: Audacities of Color was published by Bloomsbury in December 2020. 

•  Dr. Lauren B. Strauss is Senior Professorial Lecturer at the American University in Washington, D.C. and Director of AU’s Jewish Studies Program.  A scholar of American Jewish political and cultural history, her forthcoming book is: Painting the Town Red: Jewish Visual Artists, Yiddish Culture, and Radical Politics in Interwar New York. Her next book will explore social and political activism in the D.C. Jewish community.

Dr. Strauss lectures widely and is a commentator at Jewish cultural events and in the press.  At AU, she teaches courses in American Jewish politics and popular culture, Ancient and Modern Jewish civilization, Modern Jewish literature, Holocaust literature, Black-Jewish relations, Israel studies, and more.  Her museum work includes curating an exhibition on the history of modern Israel, serving as consultant to the Library of Congress exhibit “From Haven to Home,” and advising the new Capital Jewish Museum in D.C.  

In addition to her academic pursuits, Dr. Strauss cochairs the Greater Washington Forum on Israeli Arab Issues and is a board member of the Association for Jewish Studies and the Jewish Women’s Encyclopedia. She is also a founding member of Heart of a Nation, a group which encourages dialogue among Americans, Israelis, and Palestinians.

Dr. Strauss has discussed the events in Charlottesville in August 2017 in several of her courses, from “Jews and the American Political Tradition” (comparing it to the famous “Nazis in Skokie” case) to her course on the history of Black-Jewish relations in the U.S.  She has brought it up on a popular local podcast focusing on ethnic/cultural identities, in her museum work, in film reviews (about the legacy of Thomas Jefferson), and in public lectures ranging from synagogue programs to presentations for the Federal government, including the Inspector General’s office of the U.S. State Department.  The implications and consequences of the Unite the Right rally tragically impact the entire country, but it often falls to specialists from marginalized groups to illuminate the urgency of this event for our society and our democracy.

• Priyanka Shetty, writer/performer (for bio, see show page)

• Debbie Minter Jackson, dramaturg (for bio, see Meet The Team)

• A. Lorraine Robinson, director (artistic producing partner with VFP - see Meet The Team)

• Ari Roth, dramaturg (founding artistic producing partner with VFP - see Meet The Team)

Podcast interview with Sound Engineer/Designer Anthony Amos and Director A. Lorraine Robinson discussing the preshow music playlist for #Charlottesville.

#Charlottesville Pre-show Playlist

Podcast Discussion

(Discussion Intro Music*)

#Charlottesville Pre-show Playlist:

• Fists of Rage

• Blaxploitation

• Childish Gambino - This is America

• Chuck D, Nas, YG, Black Thought & Rhapsody - Fight the Power

• Garage Instrumentals - Take Y

• RZA - Tragedy Wy Tang

• Lecrae - Welcome to America

• The Isley Brothers - Fight the Power

• Track 08_ST

• Voodoo (Fight the Power) - The Siege

• Freddy Hubbard - Windjammer: Neo Terra

• We Are

  Visit Anthony’s Pre-show Playlist google link to sample the selections listed above.

  *Lorraine shared an excerpt of award-winning local Jazz Artist Reginald Cyntje’s Araminta from the Album: Rise of the Protester