VANESSA MARIE CAMPAGNA

Biography

Vanessa Marie Campagna holds a Ph.D. in Theatre and Performance Studies from the University of Missouri-Columbia. She is Chair and Associate Professor of Theatre at Monmouth College (Monmouth, IL), where she teaches courses in Theatre History, Script Analysis, Dramatic Literature, Theatre for Social Change, Directing, Dramaturgy,

and Movement for the Actor.

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Dr. Campagna's professional memberships include Association for Theatre in Higher Education (ATHE), American Theatre and Drama Society (ATDS), American Society for Theatre Research (ASTR), and the Edward Albee Society. She is the current senior Co-Chair for the Mid-America Theatre Conference's Playwriting Symposium. Dr. Campagna's research employs literary criticism, rhetorical analysis, new historicism, and theatre historiography as central methodologies for examining LGBTQ dramatic literature vis-a-vis critical frameworks of queer theory, feminist theory, crip theory, and critical race theory. Her publications have appeared in Journal of American Theatre and Drama, Journal of Dramatic Theory and Criticism, and Popular Culture Studies Journal, among others. The 2016 Robert A. Schanke Fellow for Emerging Scholars, Dr. Campagna then won the 2017 Joan A. Gundersen '68 Award for junior faculty research at Monmouth College. Most recently, she authored a chapter in LGBT Americans at Risk: Problems and Solutions, which won the 2018 American Book Fest Award for Best Book in LGBT Non-fiction. For more information, please see Scholar. Abstracts for current research projects are available in C.V. (above).

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Dr. Campagna is active in the field as a director, choreographer, dramaturg, and costume designer. Supplementing professional theatre credits garnered throughout the Midwest region is her deep commitment to community and educational theatre, and community-based arts enrichment programs. Inspired by Boal's Theatre of the Oppressed and Lorca's La Barraca, as well as by the theories of Dewey and Elliot, her praxis diligently seeks to promote equitable and empowering access to the fine and performing arts. In the rural community of Monmouth, Dr. Campagna has formalized a partnership between Monmouth College and the Buchanan Center for the Arts, and is currently generating partnerships with local schools and assisted living facilities. Forthcoming in 2022, she will collaborate with Warren County United Way. Ethically-guided artistic citizenship is central to Dr. Campagna's praxis. For more information, see Artist.     

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Beyond the profession, Vanessa is an avid yogi-runner. She loves to cook and informally studies food and wine. Vanessa is active in her communities (place-based and otherwise), but also cherishes travel. She is an enthusiastic football fan devoted to cheering for the Kansas City Chiefs, while simultaneously advocating for an organizational name change. Finally, she is the human parent to two sweet cats, Sammy and FiFi. Life is good!

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