Freda Scott Giles earned her PhD at the City University of New York.  A specialist in African American Theater, directing and acting, she is the author of articles focusing on early African-American theater, drama and theater of the Harlem Renaissance period and contemporary African American theater practitioners. A professional actor and member of Actors Equity Association and SAG-AFTRA, Dr. Giles has performed a number of roles off-Broadway as well as in film, television and radio. She recently retired from UGA where she taught courses in theater history, African American theater, African theater, and directing for the stage; she directed a number of University Theater productions and was honored to become a General Sandy Beaver Teaching Professor.

She served as associate director for the Institute for African American Studies and was on the affiliate faculty of the African Studies Institute and the Institute for Women’s Studies. She is a founding editor of Continuum, an online open access journal of African/Diaspora theater, drama and performance published by Black Theater Network. She currently serves on the board of Friends of the Georgia Museum of Art and the Black History Month committee at the Morton Theater. She is a charter member of the Athens chapter of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History and is a member of Emerita Scholars, Links, Incorporated and Delta Kappa Gamma.