Stephanie Shirilan

Stephanie Shirilan is an Associate Professor of English at Syracuse University, affiliated with the College of Arts and Sciences. She holds a Ph.D. from Brandeis University and teaches courses on early modern literature, performance studies, and environmental humanities. Her research explores intersections of science, medicine, and literature, with a focus on Shakespeare, respiratory humanities, and Jewish studies.

• Education: Ph.D., English, Brandeis University (2010); M.A., English Literature, UBC (2002); B.A., Western Society, Concordia (1999).

Her work investigates how early modern texts engage with air, breath, and atmospheric phenomena, as seen in her book Robert Burton and the Transformative Powers of Melancholy (2016) and her forthcoming The Breathing World: A History of Air and Shakespeare. She co-directs the CNY Humanities Corridor’s Practice-Based Performance Studies group and has received grants from the Folger Library and CUSE.

Recent awards include a Mid-Career Fellowship from the Howard Foundation and a CUSE Seed Grant for respiratory medicine research. Her articles span topics like liveness in digital Shakespeare performances, rabbinic virtues in texts, and respiratory community in early modern drama.

Shirilan actively serves on committees for the MLA Science and Literature Forum, Folger Institute, and Syracuse’s Global Premodern Studies. She advises students on topics blending theater, medicine, ecology, and empire.