Assistant Professor and Theatre Program Leader
Phone: (239) 590-7541
E-Mail: mhayford@fgcu.edu
Office: AC 116

Education:

• Ph.D.  Northwestern University, Department of Performance Studies (2005)
• Graduate Certificate in Gender Studies (2005)
  Dissertation: “My Life as Mick Mounter: Performing Gender(s) with the Chicago Kings”
• M.A.  Northwestern University, Department of Performance Studies (2001)
    Thesis: “The Female Body and Feminist Art and Performance”
• B.A.  University of California at Santa Cruz, Department of Theater (2000)
• B.A.  University of California at Santa Cruz, Department of Women’s Studies (2000)  

Awards:   

2000-5  Northwestern University Minority Fellowship
2003  Northwestern University Performance Studies Robert S. and Gertrude B. - Breen Memorial Award
2009 The Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival Meritorious Achievement Award, Excellence in Directing, TL001: A Performance Constellation

Teaching and Research Interests:
Michelle Hayford is an Assistant Professor of Theatre in FGCU’s Department of Theatre and Visual Arts. She primarily teaches performance theory courses using performance as a methodology. Professor Hayford’s research interests include applied theatre, ethnodrama, performativity in everyday life and identity, gender, and embodied ways of knowing. Professor Hayford is committed to interdisciplinary inquiry and bringing theory into practice through performance. Dr. Hayford directs the Performance Constellation series of original ensemble productions based on interview narratives. The Constellation ethnodramas combine her passions of creating live plays with utilizing the craft of theatre as a necessary response to community and civic engagement.