“Teaching Annie Baker”

Comparative Drama Conference

Madison, WI, July 9-11, 2026

Deadline: December 12, 2025

Over the past two decades, Annie Baker has emerged as a leading voice in contemporary theater. As winner of the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for The Flick, recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, and honoree for a MacArthur “genius” grant, she is one of the most critically acclaimed playwrights of her generation. Baker is among the most frequently produced living American playwrights, and she is also forging an impressive career as director for both stage and screen. If you teach contemporary drama, chances are you’ve taught one or more of her plays in the recent past, or are considering doing so in the near future.

This panel will bring together theater educators and practitioners to discuss how we teach Annie Baker. The panel will convene in person at the annual Comparative Drama Conference, hosted for the first time in Madison, Wisconsin, in the summer of 2026. We seek paper proposals for 15-minute presentations on any aspect of teaching Baker’s work. Papers may focus on any of her plays (or her film Janet Planet), so long as the presentation includes some reflection upon the practical experience of teaching her work.

Please note that this call for papers is for in-person presentations only.

If you are interested in presenting a paper on this panel, please send an abstract of no more than 250 words [including name, paper title, institutional affiliation and rank (if applicable)] by December 12, 2025 to Graley Herren at herren@xavier.edu. Three papers of 15-minutes apiece will eventually be included. If enough quality proposals emerge from this call, it is possible that we will have two panels on the subject. Applicants will receive an update on the status of their submissions by mid-December.