Will Lewis

Will Lewis serves as Assistant Professor of Theatre History, Literature, and Criticism at Purdue University's Patti and Rusty Rueff School of Design, Art, and Performance. He concurrently holds roles as Coordinator of Undergraduate Theatre Studies and faculty in the Cornerstone Integrated Liberal Arts program. Previously, he was Visiting Assistant Professor of Directing and Performance (2019-2022) and taught in Texas State University's MFA directing program.

His academic credentials include a Ph.D. in Theatre and Performance Studies from the University of Colorado Boulder (2018) and an M.A. in Theatre History and Criticism from CUNY/Hunter College (2012).

Dr. Lewis's research interrogates spectatorship, digital cultures, and experiential performance through practice-based methodologies. He examines how communications technologies reshape audience roles in narrative construction, employing frameworks from media sociology and user experience design. His co-edited volume Experiential Theatres (Routledge, 2022) pioneers pedagogical approaches integrating immersion, participation, and game mechanics for 21st-century theatre training.

Analysis of his 15 most recent publications reveals sustained focus on experiential spectatorship taxonomies, postdigital subjectivities, and audience-centered performance design. His work bridges performance practice with theoretical innovation, particularly in mediatized environments where digital interfaces transform theatrical engagement.

His scholarly contributions have earned recognition from:

• Kennedy Center for American College Theatre Festival (KCACTF)
• Knight Foundation program for media innovation

As founding co-editor of PARtake: The Journal of Performance as Research and ATHE Directing Program Focus Group Representative, Dr. Lewis advances performance-as-research paradigms and national directing pedagogy standards. His leadership in collaborative development workshops demonstrates commitment to experiential learning frameworks.

His current projects center on interactive experience taxonomies informed by media sociology, with ongoing exploration of how late-20th-century communication technologies catalyzed participatory performance models where audiences co-construct narrative and environment.