Cultural History of Film in the United States

C. Austin (Chris) Hill is an Assistant Professor of Theatre History at Youngstown State University, and was previously the Director of the Theatre Program at Tennessee Wesleyan University. Chris holds a PhD in Theatre History, Dramatic Literature, and Criticism from The Ohio State University, specializing in Irish theatre and Irish culture. A cultural studies historian, Chris’s work involves an interdisciplinary approach pulling from folklore, myth, literary criticism, and historiography; his dissertation was entitled “We’ve All to Grow Old”: Representations of Aging as Reflections of Cultural Change on the Celtic Tiger Irish Stage.”

Chris recently published a chapter in Autumnal Faces: Old Age in British and Irish Dramatic Narratives (Ed. Katarzyna Bronk), in addition to a chapter in The Supernatural Revamped (Barbara Brodman and James Doan, eds.), an article in Irish Studies South, and reviews in Theatre Journal. Chris has presented at conferences across the United States, in London, and in Ireland.

Chris is also an active theatre artist and has directed professionally and at the university level throughout the United States. Recently, Chris directed The Importance of Being Earnest, Twelfth Night, As You Like It, Urinetown: The Musical, Sarah Ruhl’s Eurydice, Our Town by Thornton Wilder, The Crucible by Arthur Miller, and the World Premiere of A Night of Blacker Darkness by Allison Hill and Dan Wells, based on the book by Dan Wells (at Tennessee Wesleyan University). In Columbus, he directed the Ohio premiere of Frank McCourt’s musical The Irish…And How They Got That Way (for Solstice Theatre Company), the world premiere of Elysium Interrupted by Jill Summerville (for OSU), the Ohio premier of The Illusion by Tony Kushner (for Evolution Theatre Company), and the world premiere of King Arthur and the Sword of Britain by Philip J. Hickman (for Actor’s Theatre of Columbus). Chris is excited to have made his Youngstown debut with Youngstown State University Department of Theater and Dance’s No More Peace, and Hairspray at the Youngstown Playhouse in May. In 2017, Chris will direct Spring Awakening at YSU, and in 2018, Caroline, or Change at the Youngstown Playhouse.