Frances Dolan

Frances Dolan is a Distinguished Professor of English at the University of California, Davis. She joined the faculty in 2003 after teaching at institutions like the University of Chicago and Columbia University. Her research focuses on early modern English literature, law, and history (1500–1700), with notable expertise in Shakespeare and his contemporaries. She has served as President of the Shakespeare Association of America and edited six Shakespeare plays. Her work bridges literary analysis with historical methodologies, emphasizing interdisciplinary approaches.

Her publications include award-winning books such as True Relations: Reading, Literature, and Evidence in Seventeenth-Century England (2013) and Marriage and Violence: The Early Modern Legacy (2008), as well as numerous articles on topics like seventeenth-century agriculture, gender, and Catholicism. She is currently researching a book on historical agricultural practices, exploring their legacy in modern farming and cultural narratives.

Award-winning educator, Dolan teaches courses such as Shakespeare, Law and Literature, and Children’s Literature. Honors include the UC Davis Prize for Undergraduate Teaching and the Academic Senate Distinguished Teaching Award. She has held fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, NEH, and the Huntington Library.

Her research interests span early modern legal cultures, gender studies, and the intersection of literature with historical evidence. She has advised multiple graduate students and remains active in scholarly communities, leading seminars like the Folger Weekend Seminar related to her agricultural project.