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Purpose
History & Affiliations
ASTR was founded in 1956 to encourage theatre scholarship and to provide a link with other similar groups represented in the International Federation for Theatre Research (IFTR/FIRT). Its name was adopted to distinguish it from the Society for Theatre Research, based in the United Kingdom.
In 1967, the American Society for Theatre Research was incorporated under the laws of New Jersey as a nonprofit corporation. In informal correspondence, the society is referred to as "ASTR."
ASTR is the only theatre organization in the United States affiliated with IFTR and the American Council of Learned Societies. ASTR also cooperates with the Theatre Library Association to host its annual conference and the Association for Theatre in Higher Education in many endeavors of mutual interest.
For more extensive histories of ASTR, see Thomas F. Marshall's "The First Quarter Century of ASTR" and Gary Williams's article on the second twenty-five years, which was delivered at the 50th Anniversary Conference in Chicago and will be published in the upcoming issue of Theatre Survey.
© 2002-06 The American Society for Theatre Research All Rights Reserved