Associate Professor Scott Magelssen, who teaches theatre history at both the BA and PhD level in the School of Drama, has been appointed to the Donald E. Petersen Endowed Fellowship. This fellowship will help support Associate Professor Magelssen's "crazy research projects," (his words) that so far have included visitations to viking ships and contemporary war zones, weightless flights, and simulated vintage 747 dining experiences, underground railroad escapes, and illegal border crossings.
Dr. Magelssen's work treats the ways tourism, businesses, and the military use live simulation and performance to create and reinforce meaning for participants. His most recent book, Simming: Participatory Performance and the Making of Meaning, was published in spring 2014 by University of Michigan Press. He is the author of Living History Museums (2007), and co-editor of Enacting History (2011), Theatre Historiography: Critical Interventions (2010), and Querying Difference in Theatre History (2007). He is the Editor of Southern Illinois University Press's Theater in the Americas series and co-edits the website theater-historiography.org with Henry Bial. He is also the co-Director of Undergraduate Studies here in the School of Drama.
Congratulations, Scott, on the exceptional work that led to this honor. We can't wait to see where you end up next!