Thao P. Nguyen

(they/them or she/her)

  • Visiting Assistant Professor

Areas of Study

Education

  • PhD, theater and performance studies (minor in feminist, gender, and sexuality studies), Stanford University, 2022
  • MA, communication studies, San Francisco State University, 2013
  • MPH, health and social behavior, University of California at Berkeley, 2007

Biography

Thao Nguyen is a performance studies scholar studying sexual violence in society and as represented in art and performance through the lenses of queer of color critique, intersectional feminisms, and decolonial feminisms. Nguyen uses performance studies to examine the cultural practice and phenomenon of sexual violence to interrogate concepts and assumptions of rape and to explain how the performative qualities of rape do cultural and political work. They are a writer and producer of solo performance, storytelling, and sketch comedy.

Nguyen teaches classes in gender, sexuality, and feminist studies and performance studies on a range of topics including contemporary queer of color performance, contemporary women of color performance, representations of sexual violence in art and culture, solo performance and the first person voice.

  • Doctoral Fellow. Diversifying Academia, Recruiting Excellence (DARE) Fellowship. Awarded by the Office of the Vice Provost of Graduate Education. Stanford University, CA.
  • Winner of Emerging Scholars Essay Contest. Awarded by the Association for Theater in Higher Education, Performance Studies Focus Group. Saint Paul, MN.
  • Carl Weber Graduate Fellowship. Awarded by the Department of Theater & Performance Studies. Stanford University, CA.
  • Ric Weiland Graduate Fellowship. Awarded by the School of Humanities & Sciences. Stanford University, CA.
  • Excellence in Communication Studies Scholarship. Awarded by the Communication Studies Department of San Francisco State University. San Francisco, CA.
  • Excellence in the Study and Practice of Ending Domestic Violence. Scholarship awarded by the School of Public Health Alumni Association Scholarship Program at UC Berkeley. Berkeley, CA.

Spring 2025

The Poetics and Politics of Health: Intro to Critical Health Humanities — GSFS 265

Radical 'I': Queer and Feminist Performance of the First Person Voice — GSFS 353

Fall 2025

Introduction to Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies — GSFS 101

Scripting the Body: Performative Methods in Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies — GSFS 320

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