Michele Osherow

Michele Osherow serves as Associate Professor of English at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) and holds affiliate faculty status with UMBC’s Judaic Studies Program, where she previously served as director.

Her academic credentials include:

• Ph.D. from University of Maryland, College Park
• M.A. from University of Maryland, College Park
• B.A. from Carnegie Mellon University

Dr. Osherow specializes in Shakespearean studies, Renaissance literature, biblical texts as literary works, early modern women’s writing, Jewish American literature, and performance theory. Her research uniquely bridges textual analysis with material culture, examining how 17th-century women’s needlework functioned as biblical commentary and how theatrical adaptation reshapes canonical works. This interdisciplinary approach integrates literary scholarship with hands-on dramatic practice.

Her publications consistently explore intersections between biblical narratives and early modern literary production, with particular emphasis on women’s reinterpretation of scriptural authority through both textual and textile arts. Recurring methodological threads include performance studies frameworks applied to Renaissance drama and feminist reexaminations of biblical reception history.

Professional recognition includes:

• Best actress nomination from D.C. Theatre Scene
• Alice B. Geyer Fellowship
• CAHSS Research Fellowship
• Dresher Center Summer Faculty Fellowship
• UMBC Summer Faculty Fellowship
• Alex E. Brown Center for Entrepreneurship support

Dr. Osherow maintains active cross-disciplinary collaborations with UMBC’s Theatre, Mathematics, Visual Arts, and Gender and Women’s Studies departments, plus the Imaging Research Center. Her externally funded projects include co-authoring the internationally performed play The Mathematics of Being Human with mathematician Manil Suri. She also serves as Interim Executive Director of the Shakespeare Association of America and maintains a 17-year affiliation as Resident Dramaturg at Washington D.C.’s Folger Theatre.