Bio


Samer is Assistant Professor of Theatre And Performance Studies, and a member of the faculty at the Center for the Comparative Study of Race and Ethnicity (CCSRE) and the Abbasi Program in Islamic Studies. Before coming to Stanford, he has taught at various institutions (Davidson College, Florida State University) on a wide range of topics, including Conflict and Theatre, Arab Theatre and Culture, Palestinian Theatre, Staging Islam and American Politics, and Orientalism and the Victorians. At Stanford, he teaches courses concerned with identity, race, and ethnicity at the intersection of Islam and the Arts His international research is focused on the cultural dimensions of the Arab World, the Middle East, and Islamicate regions. He has taught widely on topics of Western and non-Western theater as well as American, Middle Eastern, and Global performance. As artist/scholar, his fieldwork intersects with theatre practice as a director and writer. His work appeared in Theatre Research International, Alt.Theatre, Performance Paradigm, Critical Survey, Theatre Survey, Jadaliyya, Counterpunch, This Week In Palestine, and various edited volumes, such as Palgrave’s Performing For Survival, Edinburgh Press’ Being Palestinian, and the Freedom Theatre’s recently published Performing Cultural Resistance in Palestine. He is the co-editor of the anthology Stories Under Occupation and Other Plays from Palestine (Seagull Press/University of Chicago Press) and Arab, Politics, Performance (Routledge - Forthcoming). He edited a collection of plays: Youth Plays from Gaza (Bloomsbury Press). Courses taught include: Performing Identities, Race and Performance, Advanced Directing: Actor-Director Dialog, Making Your Own Solo Show, Edward Said: Scholar Vs Empire, Performing Arabs, Introduction to Comparative Race and Ethnicity, New Play Development, and World Theater History. Samer serves on the advisory boards of Arab Stages and Golden Thread Productions in San Francisco.

Areas of expertise: Theory; History; Criticism; Middle East Studies, Western Theater, Non-Western theater, Race and Performance, Middle Eastern Theatre; Islam and the Arts; Arab Theatre; Directing; Historiography; Postcolonialism; Nationalism; Ethnography; Performance, Politics, Casting, and Collaboration.

Academic Appointments


  • Assistant Professor, Theater and Performance Studies

Honors & Awards


  • The Walter J. Gores Award (Stanford's highest award for excellence in teaching), Stanford University (2020/2021)
  • Undergraduate Teaching Award (Univesity Wide Award), Florida State University (2018)
  • NEH-PARC Research Fellowship, National Endowment for the Humanities - Palestinian American Research Center (2023)
  • Europe in The Middle East Associate Fellowship, EUME (Berlin) (2023)
  • Research on Racial Equity and Justice (Project Grant), Stanford University (2022)
  • Teaching Innovation Grant (Remote Teaching), Stanford Center for Teaching and Learning (2021)
  • Ethics and Technology Curriculum Development (With Aleta Hayes - Dance)), Stanford University (2021)
  • Arts Catalyst Grant, Stanford Vice Presidency for the Arts (2020)

Boards, Advisory Committees, Professional Organizations


  • Faculty Steering Committee (Member), Haas Center for Public Service (2023 - Present)
  • Advisory Board Member, Arab Stages (Academic Journal - https://arabstages.org) (2023 - Present)
  • Member Co-Convene of Arabic theatre (since 2019), International Federation for Theatre Research (IFTR) (2014 - Present)
  • Member, American Society for Theater Research (ASTR) (2008 - Present)
  • Advisory Board, Aswat Middle Eastern Ensemble (2020 - Present)
  • Advisory Board Member, Golden Thread Productions (2019 - Present)

Professional Education


  • PhD, University of Washington - School of Drama, Theatre History, Theory, and Criticism (2013)

Stanford Advisees