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Melissa Walter

Dr. Melissa Walter

Associate Professor

English

Abbotsford campus, B372

Phone: 604-504-7441 ext. 4490

email Melissa

Biography

A settler and immigrant to Canada, I have been teaching at UFV since 2009.  I am grateful to have grown up in Victoria BC on the territory of the lək̓ʷəŋən and W̱SÁNEĆ peoples, and to now reside and work in the lands stewarded by the Stó:lo people from time immemorial and still to this day.  After teaching English at the high school level for four years in California, I began going to graduate school to study early English literature.  I spent a fellowship year in England, at the University of Warwick and graduated from the University of Wisconsin with a Ph. D. in English (Renaissance Literature) in 2004. Before coming to UFV, I taught at Arizona State University, the University of Oregon, and Campion College at the University of Regina.  

Education

  • PhD (University of Wisconsin)
  • M.A., Bread Loaf School of English (Middlebury College)
  • B.A. (Stanford University)

Memberships

Canadian Society for Renaissance Studies
Modern Languages Association
Pacific Northwest Renaissance Society
Shakespeare Association of America
Theater Without Borders

Teaching Philosophy

When students and faculty make connections between the literature and language we are studying, knowledge already shared in academic and other communities, and our own experiences and perspectives, we not only learn something but we also help to create new knowledge.  As a professor, I hope to learn with and to support students as they develop effective, informed, ethical, and responsive thinking, writing, and action.

Teaching Interests

Teaching Interests:

Shakespeare, Renaissance/early modern drama, Renaissance/early modern poetry and prose fiction, European literature of the Renaissance in translation and early modern culture in a transnational perspective, writing and literature in English, and interdisciplinary first-year teaching, engaging with indigenizing, decolonial, and ecological approaches.

Courses Taught:

English 312, Shakespeare
English 310, Early Modern Drama
English 309, Topics in Renaissance Literature
English 201, British Literature, 700-1700
English 108, Introduction to Literature

Research Interests

Shakespeare, Renaissance/early modern drama, Renaissance/early modern prose fiction, European literature of the Renaissance in translation and early modern culture in a transnational perspective,  indigenizing, decolonial, and ecological approaches.

Presentations

Most recent presentations

“Welcome to Padua:  Female characters, narrative sources, and the commedia dell'arte in The Two Gentlemen of Verona,” Theatre Without Borders Conference, Verona, Italy, June 15, 2023.

“Shakespeare Gardens and ‘Planting Reconciliation’ in Stó:lo Temexw,” Pacific Northwest Renaissance Conference, Banff, AB, Sept.17, 2022. 

Publications

“Research,” Oxford Handbook of Shakespeare and Authorship, co-authored with Dennis Britton, under review.

The Italian Novella and Shakespeare’s Comic Heroines. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2019.

Rethinking Shakespearean Source Study. Co-edited with Dennis Britton (U of New Hampshire). New York: Routledge, 2018.

“Shakespeare, Lord of Love and Changes.” Review of Piya Behrupiya (The Beloved Imposter) performed in Vancouver by The Company Theatre (Mumbai). Review co-written with Prabhjot Parmar (UFV) with contributions from UFV UFV students Emily Eggert-Botkin, Caleb Munro, Chris Shunamon, Anna Stelmach, Julia Toews, Emma Vander Eyk. Scene 2017.1. DOI: https://doi.org/10.18357/scene02201718369

“Matteo Bandello’s Social Authorship and Paulina as Patroness in The Winter’s Tale.” In Shakespeare and the Italian Renaissance: Appropriation, Transformation: Opposition. Michele Marrapodi, ed. Ashgate, 2014.

"Translation and identity in the Dialogues in the English and Malaiane Languages." Indographies. Jonathan G Harris, ed. UK: Palgrave, 2012.

"Drinking from Skulls and the Politics of Incorporation in Early Stuart Drama." At the Table: Metaphorical and Material Cultures of Food in Medieval and Early Modern Europe. Juliann Vitullo and Timothy Tomasik, eds. Arizona Studies in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance 18. Turnhout, Belgium: Brepols, 2007. 93-105

“Matteo Bandello’s Social Authorship and Paulina as Patroness in The Winter’s Tale.” In Shakespeare and the Italian Renaissance: Appropriation, Transformation: Opposition. Michele Marrapodi, ed. Ashgate, 2014.

 

Community Engagement

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Having worked as a human resources professional since graduating, I saw first-hand the value of an English degree in a business setting. Being able to write well definitely gives you a solid foundation that you’ll be able to use to succeed anywhere.

  • – Richel Davies
  •    Human Resources professional
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