Diana E. Henderson serves as the Arthur J. Conner Professor of Literature at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology within the School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences, where she has taught since 1995 after appointments at Columbia University and Middlebury College. Her institutional leadership included serving as MIT's Dean for Curriculum and Faculty Support from 2006 to 2015, and she currently co-leads the MIT Global Shakespeares Curriculum Initiative while teaching undergraduate courses including 'Writing With Shakespeare' and the edX/MITx course 'Global Shakespeares: Re-Creating The Merchant of Venice'. She earned her BA from the College of William & Mary and PhD from Columbia University, establishing a career that bridges academic scholarship with theatrical practice through collaborations with the Royal Shakespeare Company, Potomac Theater Project, and directors including Robert Lepage and Karin Coonrod. Her educational philosophy emphasizes experiential learning through programs like 'Literary London' and innovative digital pedagogy. Henderson's research explores Shakespearean adaptation across media and cultures, with particular focus on digital humanities, gender studies, and global performance practices. Her work examines how contemporary political contexts—especially regarding race, gender, and community—reshape Shakespearean reception, while investigating the material conditions of performance from early modern stages to digital platforms. She analyzes cross-media transformations in non-Anglophone contexts and the pedagogical implications of digital archives, consistently connecting historical scholarship to urgent modern discourse. Recent publications reveal a sustained trajectory toward global and digital approaches, with increasing emphasis on collaborative methodologies and decolonizing frameworks. Her 2021-2023 works address pandemic-era digital performance innovations, cross-cultural adaptation ethics, and the political dimensions of screen Shakespeare, demonstrating how digital tools both preserve and transform theatrical heritage while engaging with movements like #MeToo and racial justice initiatives. MITx/Open Learning grant (2019-20) for 'Merchant module' development CAST Visiting Artist grant (2019-2020) for Karin Coonrod collaboration MIT Global Classroom Fund Grants (2017-19) for 'Literary London' program CAMIT Grant (2016-17) for 'The Merchant in Venice' project Office of Digital Learning MITx Grant (2015-18) Margaret MacVicar Faculty Fellow (2009-2019) D’Arbeloff Fund Awards (2006, 2007, 2012, 2021) Everett Moore Baker Memorial Prize (2005) Henderson has supervised doctoral students as external examiner across UK, Australian, and Boston-area universities while securing significant grants for digital humanities initiatives. Her grant portfolio demonstrates consistent institutional support for innovative pedagogy, including the edX course development and documentary projects that merge scholarly research with public-facing theatrical collaborations. She actively mentors emerging scholars through her editorship of Shakespeare Studies and collaborative digital projects. She co-leads the MIT Global Shakespeares team producing digital archives and educational resources, collaborates with international theatre companies on adaptation projects, and works with Karin Coonrod on chamber opera productions including 'Judith.' Her documentary work bridges academic research and performance practice, creating tangible outputs from scholarly-theatrical partnerships that extend MIT's intellectual impact into global cultural spheres.
