Cecilia Feilla

Cecilia Feilla is an Associate Professor of English and World Literatures and Theatre Arts at Marymount Manhattan College, where she contributes to both literary and theatrical scholarship and pedagogy. Her academic focus spans comparative drama, theatre history, and performance studies, with a strong emphasis on French Revolutionary theatre and its global reverberations.

Her research interests include French theatre from the 17th to 19th centuries, adaptation studies, genre theory, and the transnational impact of the French Revolution on performance. She explores how revolutionary ideals were staged, adapted, and reinterpreted across time and cultures, including in early 20th-century China. Her interdisciplinary approach bridges literature, history, politics, and performance.

Dr. Feilla’s recent publications reflect a consistent engagement with revolutionary aesthetics, gender, historiography, and pedagogical innovation. Her articles examine topics such as prostitution in Revolutionary drama, the representation of time and history, and immersive teaching models. She has also published on multimodal learning and the adaptation of historical figures like Louise Michel in global contexts.

Her awards and fellowships highlight her scholarly and teaching excellence:

• Fellow, Second Book Institute, University of Tulsa (2023)
• Senior Faculty Leave Fellowship, Marymount Manhattan College (2023)
• Runner-up, Margarita Donnelly Prize for Prose Writing (2021)
• Innovative Course Design Prize, American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies (2020)
• Teaching Innovation Award, C-TIE (2018)
• Sokol Research Grant (2018)
• Outstanding Faculty Member Award, Humanities & Social Sciences Division (2017)
• Andrew W. Mellon Innovation Grant (2017)

Dr. Feilla has held significant administrative roles, including Director of Assessment (2017–2020), Chair of English & World Literatures (2012–2015), and Director of Learning Communities (2010–2013). She has also been a research fellow at the Folger Shakespeare Library, NYU, and Philipps Universität-Marburg. Her current book project, The Reinvention of Love: Stage Adaptations of the Abelard and Heloise Story, continues her exploration of love, history, and performance.

She is actively involved in mentoring and curriculum development, teaching courses such as World Drama, Theatre Histories, Literature & Revolution, and seminars on Romanticism, Gothic fiction, and classical literature.