Theater professor receives prestigious Fulbright research award

Karen Libman, professor of theater at Grand Valley State University, has been awarded a prestigious Fulbright grant to conduct research in Bangladesh in 2016 focusing on intercultural dialogue through theater and production.

Libman, who has been teaching at Grand Valley since 1999, will direct a Shakespearean play at the University of Dhaka while teaching and observing in the university’s theater program.

“The process of artistic creation is so exhilarating and fruitful, and the opportunity to do this with Bangladeshi artists and students will surely result in a production that is invigorating, enlightening, and aesthetically new and pleasing,” Libman said.

Libman added that she hopes her time working with students at the University of Dhaka will inspire social change.

“My artistic philosophy embraces the exploration of the relationships between theater and society in order to reflect on the potential for such endeavors to successfully promote such goals as heightened aesthetics, cultural awareness and social justice,” Libman said. “Assisting students in seeing diverse viewpoints is critically important to helping students live and learn in our changing world.”

Outside of the classroom, Libman can typically be seen directing productions for Grand Valley’s annual Shakespeare Festival and working with the festival’s touring student group, Bard to Go, which performs 50-minute compilations of Shakespearean scenes at secondary schools in Michigan.

West Michigan audiences at Grand Valley, Aquinas College, Heritage Theatre Group, Grand Rapids Civic Theatre and The Grand Rapids Jewish Theatre have enjoyed Libman’s directing work in the past. Nationally and internationally, she has directed productions in New York, Illinois, Texas, Jamaica, China and The Bahamas.

The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. The program is designed to increase mutual understanding among people in the U.S. and other countries. Recipients of Fulbright grants are selected on the basis of academic or professional achievement, as well as demonstrated leadership potential in their fields. The program operates in more than 155 countries worldwide.