Radhica Ganapathy

Director of the School of Theatre and Dance | Associate Professor | Theatre History and Criticism

School of Theatre and Dance

304-293-6806 radhica.ganapathy@mail.wvu.edu 3063 Canady Creative Arts Center

PhD – Texas Tech University
MA – Miami University
BFA – Maharaja Sayajirao University

Dr. Radhica Ganapathy (she/her) is the Director of the School of Theatre & Dance and Associate Professor of Theatre History and Criticism.

Ganapathy holds a Ph.D. in Theatre from Texas Tech University with a dual focus in History/Theory/Criticism and Acting/Directing. She has taught undergraduate and graduate courses in theatre history, theory, dramatic literature, and performance studies. Ganapathy was the recipient of the Mabel DeVries Tanner Endowed Professorship in Theatre from 2021-2024. She was also awarded Outstanding Faculty Teaching Award 2024 in the College of Creative Arts and Media.

Ganapathy’s research engages in critical representations of race, class, gender, sexuality, and religion in theatre and performance. Her work also intersects with colonial and postcolonial representations of nation and diaspora studies. Ganapathy is interested in examining performance and performativity in art and the everyday life. Her research has been presented at various academic conferences, such as Association for Asian Performance (AAP), Association for Theatre in Higher Education (ATHE), Theatre Symposium (SETC), National Women’s Studies Association (NWSA), and American Society for Theatre Research (ASTR). Ganapathy’s writing has been published by Ecumenica (Journal of Theatre and Performance), Asian Theatre Journal, Frontiers (Journal of Women’s Studies), Bloomsbury, and the Ashmolean Museum Oxford. She also serves as a reviewer for topics pertaining to India (and South Asia) for Asian Theatre Journal.

As an artist, Ganapathy has worked as a performer, director, and dramaturg. Her professional career began as an actor in New Delhi, India. She has directed several productions since 2001. Some recent directing projects include: Kate Hamill’s Dracula, a feminist revenge fantasy, really, Jen Silverman's Phoebe in Winter, Alice Birch's Anatomy of a Suicide, and Paula Vogel’s Indecent.

Prior to joining West Virginia University in 2016, she taught at Penn State University – Berks and Stockholm University, Sweden.