Faculty Profile
Karen Kirkham
Charles A. Dana Professor of Theatre; (1999)
Contact Information
Montgomery House Montgomery House 4
717-245-1335
Bio
Karen Lordi-Kirkham has extensive experience directing in both regional and academic settings. She most recently was the Adirondack Lakes Center for the Arts' Summer Festival Director and Coordinator and served for more than 8 years as the Executive Artistic Director of Pendragon Theatre in Saranac Lake, N.Y. She has directed for the Jean Cocteau Repertory, Handcart Ensemble and Phoenix Ensemble in NYC, the Attic Theater in Los Angeles (where she received the Drama Logue’s Award for Best Director and Production). She has directed productions ranging from musicals to new plays, including the world premiere of Andre Gregory’s Bone Songs, for which she also served as the dramaturg working extensively with Gregory pre-publication of the script. Highlights include directing Julie Harris in the world premiere of Peter Dee’s Amber Patches, touring shows to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and Berlin, assisting Marshall Mason for the Broadway production of Lanford Wilson’s Redwood Curtain and assisting Jiri Zizka and being dramaturg for the Wilma Theater’s production of Stoppard’s Every Good Boy Deserves Favor with the Philadelphia orchestra. She has additional experience in dance and movement-based theater. She graduated with a MFA and DFA from the Yale School of Drama, where she was the artistic director of the Yale Summer Cabaret.
Education
- B.A., Rutgers University, 1989
- M.F.A., Yale University, 1992
- D.F.A., 1997
2026-2027 Academic Year
Fall 2026
ITAL 101 Elementary Italian
Intensive study of the fundamentals of Italian grammar, with a view to developing reading, writing, speaking, and understanding skills. Laboratory and other audiovisual techniques are used. Cultural elements are stressed as a context for the assimilation of the language.
ITAL 102 Elementary Italian
Intensive study of the fundamentals of Italian grammar, with a view to developing reading, writing, speaking, and understanding skills. Laboratory and other audiovisual techniques are used. Cultural elements are stressed as a context for the assimilation of the language.Prerequisite: 101 or the equivalent
THDA 203 Acting I
An introduction to the principles and theories of acting combined with practical exercises and scene performance. This course fulfills the Arts distribution requirement.
ARTH 205 Reading Bologna & Italy Fr Ren
An intermediate-level study of selected topics in the history of art and architecture.
Prerequisites: prerequisites as appropriate to topic.
SOCI 230 Circular Cities
Courses which examine special topics in sociology and will include on a regular basis, Labor History, Comparative Race & Ethnicity, and Conflict Resolution.
ITAL 232 Reading/Performing Ital Texts
Designed to increase student's comprehension and command of spoken Italian, this course is also an initiation in everyday verbal transactions and cultural communication prevalent in contemporary Italy. Phonetics, oral comprehension, and verbal production are practiced through exposure to authentic documents usually of a non-literary nature, such as television news programs, documentaries, commercial advertisements, and excerpts from films.
Two and a half hours classroom and one hour laboratory per week. Prerequisite: 201 or the equivalent.
FDST 250 Circular Cities
Selected topics in FDST will vary with each offering, reflecting the interests of faculty and students as well as evolving concerns of the field.Prerequisite: Dependent upon topic.
PHIL 253 Econ of Inequality & Poverty
Explorations of specific figures, texts, and issues in historical and contemporary theory.
INST 290 Global Health Systems
Special topics not usually studied in depth in course offerings are examined.
Prerequisite dependent upon topic. This course is cross-listed as POSC 290 when the topic is "Transatlantic Relations."
LWJS 290 Comparative Constitutional Law
Courses in the area of Law, Justice and Society. The content of the course will reflect the interests and expertise of faculty and the needs of students.
Prerequisite dependent upon topic.
LWJS 290 Global Health Systems
Courses in the area of Law, Justice and Society. The content of the course will reflect the interests and expertise of faculty and the needs of students.
Prerequisite dependent upon topic.
POSC 290 Comparative Constitutional Law
Topics not normally studied in depth in the regular offerings are analyzed in these special topics courses. Recent offerings have included: Contemporary Political Ideologies, Mexican Politics, Political Thought of the Enlightenment, Politics in Fiction, Separation of Powers, The Bill of Rights, and Italian Politics. Prerequisite for 290 is dependent upon topic.
POSC 290 Global Health Systems
Topics not normally studied in depth in the regular offerings are analyzed in these special topics courses. Recent offerings have included: Contemporary Political Ideologies, Mexican Politics, Political Thought of the Enlightenment, Politics in Fiction, Separation of Powers, The Bill of Rights, and Italian Politics. Prerequisite for 290 is dependent upon topic.
INBM 300 Made in Italy, Sustainably
A topics course examining important issues in international management. Examples of course possibilities include issues in cross-cultural communication and ethics, issues in international marketing, issues in international dimensions of financial reporting, issues in government regulation of business, and issues in financial decision-making.
Prerequisite dependent upon topic/topic area.
ITAL 300 (RE)Writing the Narrative
In this course, offered in Bologna, students learn how to read more critically by analyzing and interpreting Italian texts. With the aid of appropriate tools, the course seeks to expand the students’ knowledge of Italian history and society by focusing on select topics such as, but not limited to the slow food movement and sustainability; landscapes and regional identities; migration and Italian transnational identities; and, media, power and politics. The course will further enhance oral and written abilities through interviews with native speakers, class presentations, and a variety of writing assignments that derive from direct contact with contemporary Italian society. Taught in Italian.Prerequisites: 231 or 232 or permission of instructor
ENST 306 Circular Cities
An interdisciplinary course in Environmental Studies Specializations. The topic is determined by faculty availability and student interest. Three hours classroom a week. Depending on the topic, this course may also include three or four hours of laboratory a week. Prerequisite: Dependent upon topic.
ECON 314 Econ of Inequality & Poverty
Prerequisites: One or more of the core intermediate theory courses (268, 278, 288, 298) depending on the topic.