Professor McGinley’s research and teaching examines histories of American theater and performance in the twentieth century, with a particular focus on African-American theater and popular entertainment.
Professor McGinley’s research and teaching examines histories of American theater and performance in the twentieth century, with a particular focus on African American theater and popular entertainment. Professor McGinley’s first book, Staging the Blues: From Tent Shows to Tourism (Duke University Press, 2014) is an exploration of the theatrical histories of blues performance; it was awarded the John W. Frick Book Award from the American Theater and Drama Society. Her current project, Rehearsing Civil Rights: Practicing the Law, 1938-1964, examines legal performance during the long civil rights era, and places paradigms of practice and rehearsal at the center of a study of court cases, nonviolent direct action, and theatrical events. With Dominika Laster, she edits the “Books” section of the journal TDR.
