Natasha Korda

Natasha Korda serves as Director of the Center for the Humanities and Professor of English at Wesleyan University. Holding a Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University (1995), she maintains active leadership roles in major academic organizations including the Shakespeare Association of America, where she served as President (2020-2021).

Her research focuses on intersections of gender, labor, and material culture in early modern England. Korda examines how women’s economic activities shaped theatrical production through meticulous analysis of legal records, household accounts, and stage properties. Her work pioneers methodologies connecting archival research with performance studies, emphasizing marginalized contributions to theatrical economies.

Korda’s publications reveal consistent engagement with feminist historiography and materialist approaches. Her scholarship demonstrates evolving focus from domestic economies to ephemeral labor systems, increasingly incorporating visual and material culture frameworks. Recent projects extend this trajectory into counter-archival practices.

• International Research Fellowship at Oxford Brookes University
• Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Fellowship at the Huntington Library
• Charles S. Singleton Fellowship at Johns Hopkins University’s Villa Spelman
• Fellowships at the Folger Shakespeare Library

As editorial board member for Renaissance Quarterly and Early Modern Women: An Interdisciplinary Journal, Korda shapes scholarly discourse in her field. Her leadership extends to co-founding the Theater Without Borders research collaborative and directing intensive graduate seminars at the Folger Institute, significantly influencing methodological training in early modern studies.

Korda co-leads the Theater Without Borders research collaborative, fostering international interdisciplinary projects examining transnational performance histories. Her current editorial work on Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night integrates material culture perspectives into canonical texts.