Ulla Kallenbach

Ulla Kallenbach is a Professor in Theatre Studies at the Department of Linguistic, Literary and Aesthetic Studies, University of Bergen, Norway, where she heads the Theatre History and Dramaturgy Research Group. She also serves as President of the Association of Nordic Theatre Scholars and is a steering committee member of the Centre for Historical Performance Practice (CHiPP) at Aarhus University, Denmark.

Dr. Kallenbach holds an MA in Text and Performance (2005, King's College London/Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts) and an MA in Theatre Studies (2007, University of Copenhagen), for which she received the University of Copenhagen's Gold Medal. She completed her PhD in 2014 with the thesis 'The Theatre of Imagining: Imagination in the Mind - Imagination on the Stage,' published by Palgrave Macmillan in 2018 as the first comprehensive study of the cultural history of imagination in theatre contexts.

Her research focuses on three main strands: the cultural history of imagination and its relationship to theatre, the performativity of dramatic texts and the dramaturgy of spectatorship, and cultural mobility with digital humanities approaches. Dr. Kallenbach examines how imaginative processes shape both dramatic creation and audience reception across historical periods. Her work bridges historical and contemporary perspectives, exploring theatrical practices through innovative digital methodologies. She has pioneered computational approaches to drama analysis, particularly with Holberg's comedies, and investigates how transnational artistic exchanges have shaped national theatrical identities.

Dr. Kallenbach's recent publications reveal a strong emphasis on transnational theatre history, particularly through her leadership of the 'Artistic Exchanges' project examining the Royal Danish Theatre's role in European cultural networks from 1748-1948. Her work combines digital tools with qualitative case studies to analyze artistic mobility, repertoire development, and national identity formation through theatrical exchange.

• University of Copenhagen's Gold Medal for MA dissertation 'Space and Visuality in the Drama Text' (2007)

Dr. Kallenbach supervises students from BA to PhD level in various topics related to dramaturgy, theatre history, and historiography. She secured a major DKK 6.191.225 grant from the Independent Research Fund Denmark for her 'Artistic Exchanges [ArtEx]: The Royal Danish Theatre and Europe' research project. Her collaborative work extends across Nordic countries and Europe, reflecting her commitment to transnational scholarship and interdisciplinary approaches to theatre studies.

As principal investigator of the 'Artistic Exchanges' project and participant in the 'Danish theater archives in the digital era' pilot project, Dr. Kallenbach leads teams developing digital tools for analyzing theatrical mobility and repertoire development. Her work with the Centre for Historical Performance Practice bridges academic scholarship with artistic practice, creating innovative pathways for understanding historical performance traditions through both theoretical analysis and practical experimentation.