Detra Payne, (MFA, The New School of Drama/Actors Studio Drama School) was an Assistant Professor of Instruction at the University of Texas at Arlington in the Theatre Department before joining Northwestern University. She has taught cross disciplinary courses in Women's and Gender Studies including Gender and the Performing Arts and Women in Theatre. Payne has acted professionally in New York, Los Angeles, Seattle, Memphis and the Dallas/Ft. Worth area. Ms. Payne earned her MFA from the Actors Studio Drama School once a division of the New School, where she studied extensively and mastered The Method technique of acting formulated by Lee Strasberg. Her B.A. is from the University of Washington and while there she was a member of the first class to be taught the Suzuki Method, created by world renowned theatre artist Tadashi Suzuki. Ms. Payne is trained in the Meisner Technique, created by Stanford Meisner, through the Joann Baron/DW Brown Studio in Los Angeles. Ms. Payne is a founding member and board member of the Los Angeles based theatre company Sacred Fools. Ms. Payne has produced and directed a number of theatrical productions and worked on films and in television not only as an actor but as a production and talent coordinator. Her written work has been published in Theatre Journal and Studies in Theatre and Performance.