Thomas Riccio is a Professor of Visual and Performing Arts at the University of Texas at Dallas. Artistic Director of the Dead White Zombies, a post-disciplinary performance group, Dallas. Previous positions include Professor, University of Alaska Fairbanks, where he directed Tuma Theatre, an Alaska Native performance group; Artistic Director, Organic Theater, Chicago; Resident Director/Dramaturg, Cleveland Play House; Associate Literary Director, American Repertory Theatre, Harvard. He works in ritual, shamanism, and indigenous performance, teaching, conducting field research, and creating performances in Alaska, South Africa, Zambia, Tanzania, Korea, India, Nepal, Kenya, Burkina Faso, Brazil, and Ethiopia. Visiting Professorships: University of Dar es Salam, Tanzania; Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia; University of Pondicherry, India; Korean National University for the Arts, Seoul; and Jishou University, China. His current ethnography project is with the Miao of southwest China. The Republic of Sakha (Siberia) declared him a “Cultural Hero” for his cultural revitalization work. From 2006 to 2019, he worked as a narrative consultant and Creative Director for Hanson Robotics, Hong Kong. He has published two books; his academic writings have appeared in numerous international journals. See deadwhitezombies.com and thomasriccio.com.