Dumbarton Oaks Humanities Fellow, National Gallery of Art
Emily Orr graduated from Harvard College in 2021 with a degree in history and literature and a secondary in theater, dance, and media. Her undergraduate work often focused on humor as a dual upholder and destabilizer of political power, racial capitalism, and consumption. Her undergraduate thesis explored interracial marriage and antebellum inheritance structures in American fiction. Orr has twice served as a research partner through the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, supporting projects around playwriting, American tap dance, and critical theory on the human body. She has interned with Davis Entertainment, the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, Grandview/Automatik, and NBCUniversal Media.