The Alma Hawkins Memorial Chair Fund was established in 2004 to enhance the teaching of dance and choreography in the department. In 2017, the fund was reorganized to support the Alma Hawkins Memorial Visiting Chair. For one academic quarter each year, we invite a distinguished, internationally renowned choreographer to join the faculty. They teach one project-based course, culminating in an end-of-quarter performance, and one special topics class, capitalizing on the artist’s expertise. WACD also sponsors a public presentation by the Hawkins Chair, which can take the form of a lecture, discussion, demonstration, performance or a combination.

The Hawkins chair expands our departmental offerings with specific attention to diversity of forms, geography, and points of view so that we may give our students, particularly the graduate students, a stronger sense of diverse global perspectives and extend the understanding of dance practices worldwide. The Hawkins Chair is a rotating position, so each year, students get to engage deeply with a different choreographer of extraordinary stature.

mayfield brooks, Alma Hawkins Visiting Chair, 2023

Jennifer Harge, Alma Hawkins Visiting Chair, 2022

Julie Tolentino, Alma Hawkins Visiting Chair, 2021

Jaamil Olawale Kosoko, Alma Hawkins Visiting Chair, 2020

Ligia Lewis, Alma Hawkins Memorial Visiting Chair, 2019

Salia Sanou, Alma Hawkins Memorial Visiting Chair, 2018