Carver began studying acting, musical theatre, clowning and improvisation at Camelot Academy and the Coterie Theatre in Kansas City. She continued her studies at Northwestern University, joining the improvisation group Rubber Teeth and performing on stage and in comedic films. At Northwestern she studied acting and devising with Tony-award winning directors Frank Galati and Mary Zimmerman. Carver had several favorite acting roles at NU, most memorable included Anna in the adaptation of Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina and Mrs. Penmark in Maxwell Anderson’s The Bad Seed. Carver also earned her Writing for the Media certificate, taking courses in playwriting from Charles Smith and screenwriter Julia Cameron. After earning her bachelor’s degree in Performance Studies in 1990, Carver began her Master’s Degree at Arizona State University where she studied applied theatre, devising, and social justice performance with Fred Corey and Kristin Valentine. Carver performed in plays addressing sexual violence and created a performance troupe on HIV/AIDS prevention. After earning her MA (1994), she continued her studies of personal narrative as a means of addressing health issues at the University of Texas where she earned her doctorate in Performance Studies (1999) with Lynn Miller as her dissertation advisor with research on women’s autobiographical performance and representation in cinema. While at Texas, Carver taught courses in acting, adaptation, and screenwriting—she also performed in Gertrude Stein’s “My Wife Has a Cow a Love Story” and directed performances such as Zooman and the Sign. In 1999, as an Assistant Theatre professor at Lake Superior State University, Carver taught courses in acting, improvisation, stage movement and oral interpretation. In Fall, 2000, she was hired by the University of Missouri where she has continued to teach acting, performance of literature, playwriting, screenwriting, solo performance, devising, and graduate seminars in applied theatre and performance studies. Since 2001 she has annually directed the Life and Literature in Performance Series, and she co-created and began directing the Troubling Violence Performance Troupe in 2003. She has written and co-written several books, articles and plays in addition to producing and co-directing award-winning documentary films. Carver has been honored by the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival and the National Communication Association for her performance work, and by campus organizations for her teaching, creative research, service, and mentorship. A Professor in the Department of Theatre & Performance Studies, she currently serves as Director of the Center for Applied Theatre and Drama Research.

Co-editor, Voices Made Flesh: Performing Women’s Autobiography, University of Wisconsin Press, 2001.

Co-author, Troubling Violence: A Performance Project, University of Mississippi Press, 2009.

Co-author, Saturday Night and the 1976 Presidential Election: A New Voice Enters Campaign Politics, McFarland, 2018