I’m a writer, scholar, educator, and dramaturg innovating approaches to arts and humanities education.
My specialties include early modern studies, Shakespeare studies, theater history, dramaturgy, and educational development.
My dissertation, “Visible Bullets: Subversive Stage Properties in Shakespeare’s English ad Roman History Plays,” studies the prominent symbolic function of stage properties in the dramaturgy and politics of the history plays, arguing that Shakespeare crafts a visual landscape on stage that further complicates political readings of the genre. Rather than solely attending to what can be found in historical sources and static documents, I turn scholarly attention back to the live event of the drama to examine what is seen on stage. I describe my research methodology as object-oriented dramaturgy (OOD). This approach utilizes my three-fold training in English literature, drama and theatre, and performance theory to conduct a robust scholarly and historically-informed analysis that places emphasis on the dramatic event itself. I argue that Shakespeare uses these stage properties deliberately and subversively to prompt audiences and readers to not just consider theatricality on stage, but to also consider the role and impact of theatricality in power and politics.
As a writing instructor, tutor, and educational developer, I am committed to building accessible and informative writing curriculum, designed to help student navigate reading and writing assignment, while maintaining their voice, creativity, and personal passion.
Publications:
“‘They eat. They talk shit’: The role of Barbecue in Fat Ham’s Queer Utopia,” Revenge is Mad Hard: Fat Ham and the Question of Cultural Reclamation, ed. Valerie Pye and Danielle Rosvally (Palgrave), accepted and forthcoming Fall 2025.
“Conversion as Nonperformative Speech in The Jew of Malta,” ‘Issues in Review’ in Early Theater, under review.
Hamlet dir.Robert O’Hara (Review). Shakespeare Bulletin, accepted and forthcoming Winter 2026.
Emily Parise 