Associate Professor STA 351 480-965-5983 olga.davis@asu.edu Research interests: critical performance studies and health disparities Curriculum Vitae ASU Directory Profile

My research agenda is in the domain of critical cultural and performance studies in the disciplinary area of human communication. My work explores the performative struggle of identity within the African Diaspora, the Black body as a site of racialized and sexualized oppression, and the function of memory as ritualized healing among survivors of the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921. Central to my work is the study of narrative—how narrative empowers, creates, and fosters cultural awareness to provide a space for social change. As an Afrafeminist and womanist scholar, I center the critical and interpretive aspects of Black women’s discourse to interrogate the performance of race, in which sexualized and gendered identities are crafted in ways that complicate African American discourse, embodied performance and identity formation.

Link to "Health Disparities in Our Community: Reflections in Art and Performance"

Link to "ASU in the Community"

Link to "The State of Black Arizona"

Link to The Julliard School Alumni Spotlight