Marjorie Rubright

Marjorie Rubright is Associate Professor of English at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and Director of the Kinney Center for Interdisciplinary Renaissance Studies. She previously served as Associate Professor of English at the University of Toronto. Her work bridges literary studies, critical race theory, trans* studies, and environmental humanities.

Her research focuses on the intersections of language, embodiment, and identity in the early modern period. Key areas include:

• Trans* and gender studies in Renaissance literature
• Race, ethnicity, and postcolonial approaches to the global Renaissance
• Eco-criticism and the environmental humanities
• Lexical culture and new philologies
• Public and collaborative humanities projects

Her recent publications explore Shakespeare, Othello, The Roaring Girl, and early modern lexicography, often through queer, feminist, and transnational lenses. These works collectively emphasize how language shapes human and non-human identities across time.

She has received academic recognition including the 2017 Katharine Kyes Leab and Daniel J. Leab Award for her co-curated exhibition catalogue. She is also an active curator, having led major campus exhibits such as Shakespeare Unbound and Shakespeare, Race, and America.

Marjorie advises collaborative research initiatives including the Renaissance of the Earth and the Anthropocene Lab, and she serves on the Board of Directors for the Renaissance Society of America and the Executive Committee of the Folger Institute Consortium. She teaches graduate and undergraduate courses on Shakespeare, early British literature, and interdisciplinary themes.

Her current projects include the monograph A World of Words: Language, Earth and Embodiment in the Renaissance and the collaborative ROAR! initiative with Sawyer Kemp and Simone Chess. She is also co-editor of Logomotives: Words that Change the World.