Tracy C. Davis

Tracy C. Davis is the Ethel M. Barber Professor in Performing Arts and Associate Department Chair in the Theatre Department at Northwestern University's School of Communication. Her expertise spans British Theatre History, Cold War Studies, Feminist Theory, Museum Studies, and Performance Theory. She specializes in historiography methodologies of theatre and performance research, with a focus on 19th-century theatre history, gender representation, and social activism.

• Education: PhD in Theatre Studies from University of Warwick, BFA in Drama from University of Calgary
• Courtesy appointment: Department of Performance Studies
• Editorial roles: Associate Editor for Theatre Journal, member of multiple editorial boards

Her research examines the transnational mobility of performance technologies, the economics of theatre production, and intersections between political activism and performance. She has developed innovative mixed methods approaches to theatre historiography and mentored extensively across academic levels.

Recent publications explore Victorian social reform through performance, transnational theatre history, and comprehensive research methodologies. Her book projects include Liberal Lives and Activist Repertoires: Political Performance and Victorian Social Reform and The Cambridge Guide to Mixed Methods Research for Theatre and Performance Studies.

Scientific Awards:

• Alexander von Humboldt Research Award (2016-18)
• Andrew W. Mellon Faculty Fellowship (1990-91)
• National Endowment for the Humanities Research Fellowship (1995)
• Distinguished Scholar’s Prize (2005)
• Lane Humanities Institute Teaching Professor (2007)

She serves on research boards including the Social Science Research Council and Shanghai Theatre Academy Advisory Board, and has received grants from the Alice Kaplan Institute for the Humanities and National Science Foundation's GEOPATHS pilot grant.