Erica Stevens Abbitt
Dr. Erica Stevens Abbitt is Professor Emerita in the School of Dramatic Art. From 2015-17, she also served FAHSS as director of the Humanities Research Group. A native of Montreal, Erica earned a BA in political science from McGill before training as an actor. Her theatre career in Canada, the US, New Zealand and the UK included the BBC series OPPENHEIMER, stage roles in London and Off-Broadway and directing, writing and producing credits in regional theatre. In 1999, she returned to her studies, receiving an MA in Theatre History from California State University, Northridge and a PhD in Critical Studies from UCLA’s School of Theater, Film and Television. Joining the University of Windsor in 2004, she focused on revitalizing the theatre studies curriculum to include contemporary thinking on race, nation, gender, power and identity, as well as performance. Erica’s research interests in girl culture, pedagogy, politics and feminist performance are reflected in a series of journal articles, as well as The Theatre of Naomi Wallace (Palgrave 2014) which she co-edited with Scott T. Cummings. The proud recipient of awards from OHREA, FAHSS and OPUS for service on campus, she has also been honoured for contributions to the Women and Theatre Program for the Association for Theatre in Higher Education. As a late career academic, she is passionate about mentorship, interdisciplinary exchange, the link between theory and practice, and the importance of liberal arts education in the 21st century.