School of Theatre Arts

Adjunct Instructor - 

Theatre History & Dramatic Literature

PhD – ABD, Indiana University; MA in Theatre, San Diego State University; MA in Teaching,National Louis University; BFA Theatre Performance, Illinois Wesleyan University.

Bridget Sundin is a returning adjunct professor of Theatre History and Dramatic Literature for the School of Theatre Arts. After graduating from IWU, Bridget’s journey led from the stage to the classroom where she has spent the last 15 years as a theatre educator. Bridget’s research is focused on intersectionality and the actor’s body in performance. Her areas of historical expertise include the Golden Age of Spain, 20th & 21st century American theatre history, feminist & queer theatre collectives, site-specific theatre, and performance art. Her dissertation project theorizes Josephine Baker, Marlene Dietrich, and Gladys Bentley’s embodiment in the context of early 20 th century cabaret and variety stage performance.

Leaning on Marvin Carlson’s theory of the haunted stage, she posits that these three
performers’ bodies are not only haunted by their intersectionality and celebrity but are also haunted by each other’s bodies and gender while ghosting the heritage of cross-dressing from theatre history in a way that opens a space of queer futurity. She has presented her academic work widely at conferences and is published in Theatre Symposium.

In addition to her scholarly research, Bridget is an actor, director, and dramaturg. Her life’s
work is decolonizing the classroom and combatting systemic racism & homophobia in
educational spaces.