Kate Foster Vishniakova earned her Bachelor of Arts in Theatre and German Studies and her Master of Arts in German Language, Literature, and Culture from Wayne State University (WSU). She trained at the Moscow Art Theatre School with an undergraduate research grant to study Russian theatre contemporary adaptations. Also during her undergraduate studies, she spent a year at the Ludwig Maximilian University as a DAAD grant recipient with the Junior Year in Munich program, researching non-profit theatre abroad. Kate taught beginner and intermediate German while studying at WSU and served for one year as a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant in Germany with Diversity Specialization. After teaching at home and abroad, Kate earned her Master in Fine Arts in Dramaturgy at Columbia University. She presented her thesis, a verbatim play composed of more than twenty international interviews, as a Student Fellow at Georgetown’s Laboratory for Global Performance and Politics.
Kate’s research interests include documentary theatre, performance studies, topics of identity and belonging in literature, and second language acquisition. In addition, she is certified in HR and is interested in intercultural communication in the workplace.