Peggy Phelan

Peggy Phelan (born April 23, 1959) is an American feminist scholar. She is the Ann O’Day Maples Professor of the Arts, Professor of Theater & Performance Studies, and Professor of English at Stanford University.

Career Phelan is a former president and treasurer of Performance Studies International; the former chair of New York University's Department of Performance Studies from 1993 to 1996 and of Stanford University's Drama Department; and the former Denning Family Director of the Stanford Arts Institute. She is currently the Ann O’Day Maples Professor of the Arts, Professor of Theater & Performance Studies, and Professor of English at Stanford University.

Phelan's research interests include American literature, British literature, and performance studies with a focus in poetry and drama. While most of her initial work was rooted in feminist post-structuralism and psychoanalysis, her more recent work is concerned with media, photography, and visual arts. She has written on topics including the selfie, Ronald Reagan, and Andy Warhol. Her essay, "The Ontology of Performance," was originally published in her book Unmarked: The Politics of Performance (1993).

Selected publications Phelan, Peggy. Live Art in La: Performance in Southern California, 1970-1983. New York: Routledge, 2012. Reckitt, Helena, and Peggy Phelan. Art and Feminism. London: Phaidon, 2001. Phelan, Peggy, Hans U. Obrist, Elisabeth Bronfen, and Pipilotti Rist. Pipilotti Rist. London: Phaidon, 2001. Phelan, Peggy, and Martin Gustavsson. Martin Gustavsson. 2001. Phelan, Peggy. Special Issue: Narrative and Performance. Ohio State University Press, 2000. Phelan, Peggy, and Jill Lane. The Ends of Performance. New York University Press, 1998. Phelan, Peggy. Mourning Sex: Performing Public Memories. London: Routledge, 1997. Phelan, Peggy. Unmarked: The Politics of Performance. London: Routledge, 1993.

Awards Guggenheim Fellowship for Theatre Arts, 2004 Getty Research Institute Scholar, 2004-2005 Stanford Humanities Center Violet Andrews Whittier Fellow, 2011-2012 Australian National University Humanities Institute Fellow Callaway Prize for dramatic criticism honorable mention, 1997-1999