Faculty
Deborah Willis, Associate Professor (951) 827-1939 Deborah Willis (B.A., M.A., Ph.D. Berkeley) teaches and does research primarily
in the areas of Shakespeare, early modern drama, and cultural studies. Her book,
Malevolent Nurture: Witch-hunting and Maternal Power in Early Modern England (Cornell University Press, 1995), explores the dynamics of witchcraft accusation through legal documents, pamphlet literature, religious tracts, and the plays of Shakespeare. Other published work includes "Marlowe our Contemporary: Edward II on Stage and Screen” in Criticism: A Quarterly Journal for Literature and the Arts (Fall 1998) and "The Gnawing Vulture: Trauma Theory, Revenge, and Titus Andronicus” in Shakespeare Quarterly (Spring 2002), and she has contributed to such collections as Enclosure Acts: Sexuality, Property, and Culture in Early Modern England (Cornell UP, 1994), A Case Study in Critical Controversy: The Tempest (Macmillan, 2000), A Companion to Renaissance Drama (Blackwell, 2002), and The Greenwood Companion to Shakespeare: A Comprehensive Guide for Students (Greenwood Press, 2005). Current projects focus on representations of witch-families in early modern England and on early modern languages of trauma and addiction. Willis serves as the English Department's Graduate Recruitment Director, chairs UCR's Committee on Preparatory Education, and is coordinator of the University of California Interdisciplinary Psychoanalytic Consortium. In the past, she has served as the Director of English Composition (1997-2001) and as the Director of the Hewlett Program in General Education (1999-2002). |
