Hollins University is pleased to announce that Anuradha Marwah has been selected as a Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence for the Fall 2025 semester. Marwah, an accomplished theatre practitioner, novelist, and scholar from India, will join the Hollins community from August through December 2025. She brings fresh perspectives on literature and socially conscious theatre-making to students and the broader Roanoke community.
“We are delighted to welcome Dr. Marwah to Hollins,” says Hollins President Mary Dana Hinton. “We look forward to her global perspective and the many ways her presence will enhance our ongoing, robust partnerships with the broader Roanoke community. We are fortunate to have had prior Fulbright faculty members who have resulted in collaborations that continue beyond the residency. I am certain that our experiences with Dr. Marwah will be enduring and transformative.”
“Dr. Marwah’s deep experience and expertise in community- and justice-based theater arts will help our campus and the greater community live into the values of the Fulbright program by building enduring bridges and fostering understanding across cultures,” adds Laura A. McLary, Nora Kizer Bell Provost.
Building on Fulbright Success
Marwah’s residency builds on Hollins’ growing momentum in the Fulbright program. The university is celebrating a milestone year in 2025-26 with two undergraduate Fulbright recipients: Blair Turner ’25 and Ellie Song ’24. For the first time in its history, Hollins celebrated two Fulbright scholars in a single year, following the university’s first undergraduate Fulbright recipient in many years during 2024-25.
The Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence Program brings distinguished international scholars to U.S. institutions to enhance international understanding and strengthen academic programs through teaching and research. The program represents another dimension of Hollins’ commitment to global engagement. Hollins previously hosted Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence Isabell Kingori from Kenya in 2021-22, a collaboration that led to the Hollins faculty-led study abroad program in Kenya focused on gender and women’s studies and public health.
Marwah will share invaluable insights with faculty and students as the university develops curriculum and schedules for a faculty-led theatre trip to India planned for 2027.
Innovative Teaching and Community Partnership
During her residency, Marwah will offer a special topics performance course using Euripides’ Medea to explore how classical narratives can be adapted to foster democratic dialogue and address contemporary issues. This course builds on her 2019 production inspired by Ten Thousand Things theatre, developed during her previous Fulbright-Nehru Fellowship.
A key component of Marwah’s residency will be her collaboration with community partner Ursula’s Café, a nonprofit café and community arts space in downtown Roanoke. Plans include organizing a community reading of Seven, a documentary theatre piece conceived by Carol Mack and written by seven award-winning playwrights: Paula Cizmar, Catherine Filloux, Gail Kriegel, Carol K. Mack, Ruth Margraff, Anna Deavere Smith, and Susan Yankowitz. The play tells the true stories of seven women who bravely fought for the well-being of women, families, and children around the world. This collaboration will provide students with real-world experience in community-based theatre while connecting global stories of women’s advocacy to the local Roanoke community.
Looking Toward Future Global Engagement
“Dr. Marwah brings the perfect combination of scholarly expertise and practical experience to help our students understand the transformative potential of participatory theater,” said Wendy-Marie Martin, theatre department chair, who will serve as the primary contact for the scholar-in-residence. “Her work demonstrates how classical texts can speak to contemporary audiences and create opportunities for meaningful dialogue about social issues.”
