Willow White, PhD

Area of Study / Keywords

English Literature Theatre History Indigenous Studies Eighteenth Century Feminism

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About

Willow White is a feminist literary historian and Assistant Professor in the Department of Fine Arts and Humanities at the University of Alberta, Augustana Campus. She teaches Literature, Drama, and Indigenous Studies courses. She completed her PhD in English at McGill University in 2021 and previously taught at the National Theatre School of Canada.

Dr. White is of Métis, Cree, and settler descent and is a proud member of the Métis Nation of Alberta. Her ties to Red River are through the Inkster, Sutherland, Cook, and Anderson families. She welcomes emails and meetings with all Indigenous students at Augustana. You can learn more about resources for Indigenous students at Augustana here.

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Research

My research recovers the voices and stories of historical English and Indigenous women. I am the author of Feminist Comedy: Women Playwrights of London (University of Delaware Press, 2024), which focuses on women in the theatre arts in eighteenth-century England, and co-editor of The Narrative of the Life of Mrs. Mary Jemison (Broadview Press, 2022), the memoir of an eighteenth-century Seneca woman. I have published in a variety of scholarly journals (see Featured Publications below), and my article “Rematriating Cockacoeske: Indigenous Resistance, Bacon’s Rebellion, and Aphra Behn’s The Widow Ranter” is forthcoming from Eighteenth-Century Fiction.

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Teaching

My teaching philosophy is shaped by my identity as a Métis woman and Indigenous ways of learning grounded in recognition, reciprocity, and respect. I embrace a relational pedagogy and accordingly, my classes tend to emphasize active participation and experiential learning outside the classroom. Since starting at Augustana in 2022, I have developed several courses in English and Indigenous literatures. While I use traditional assessment modes like tests and essays, I am always seeking to incorporate fresh, unique, and dynamic assignments and experiences. I am eager to show students that the study of literature can be practical as well as meaningful.

In 2023, I was awarded the U of A Provost's Award for Early Achievement of Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching.

AUDRA 398 - Selected Topics

Advanced study of selected topics related to the theory, history, and practice of performance on stage or in secondary visual media. Prerequisite: AUDRA 230.

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AUENG 207 - Indigenous Storytelling

Focuses on stories and storytelling by First Nations, Metis, and Inuit. Texts include oral and written literatures in the form of novels, poetry, drama, essays, personal narratives, and more. Themes will include traditional and contemporary perspectives on gender, culture, language, the land, and spirituality. Content, period, and national focus will vary. Prerequisites: one of AUENG 102, AUIND 101, or second-year standing.

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AUENG 298 - Selected Topics in English Studies

Studies of selected authors, works, periods, topics, and critical approaches. Focus and content of each course are determined by student and instructor interests, and vary from year to year. Prerequisites: 3 units in English at the 100-level.

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AUIND 101 - Introduction to Indigenous Studies

An introduction to historical and modern relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in Canada. This course investigates how Canada's history of anti-Indigenous policies (such as residential schools and the Sixties Scoop) have negatively impacted First Nations, Métis, and Inuit into the present. The course further highlights the resilience of Indigenous peoples through community organization, artistic and cultural expression, and the fight for self-determination. Note: Credit may be obtained for only one of AUIND 101 and AUIND 201 (2023).

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Browse more courses taught by Willow White

2025-09-01 to 2028-08-01

This project, led by Dr. Joseph Wiebe, brings together First Nations, Métis, and Mennonite researchers to create a digital archive of the Mennonitische Rundschau—the newspaper of Russian Mennonites since the nineteenth century—from a decolonial perspective.

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2022-08-01 to 2025-05-01

In 2022, I received a Major Campus Sustainability Grant from the U of A's office of Energy and Climate Action focused on raising awareness of traditional medicines that grow on Augustana Campus through consultations with Elders, educational workshops and the creation of a plant walk with interpretive signage. 

Augustana Tours + Events: Our Plant Relations Walking Tour Map

Read, listen, and watch to learn more about the project here!

• News Article: Samantha Schwientek (Cayuga), "Métis prof recruits others to protect native plants after sacred sage mowed down on campus," CBC, July 21, 2025.
• Video: "Bringing back mowed-down Sage," CBC, July 21, 2025.
• Vlog: Michelle Durocher (Métis) and Florence Glanfield (Métis), "Rekindling our Relations with Plants at Augustana Campus — with Willow White," Presenting our Presence, YouTube,  August 10, 2025.
• Essay: Willow White, "Restoring kinship with native plants at Augustana Campus," The Quad, June 26, 2025.

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2024-06-01 to 2026-06-01

This project, funded by a SSHRC Insight Development Grant, seeks to recover the influence of two Indigenous women of North America on seventeenth-century English performance culture.

Shelby Johnson, Katarina O'Briain, and Willow White

ABO: Interactive Journal for Women in the Arts, 1640-1830. 2025 June; 15 (1) 10.5038/2157-7129.15.1.1457

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Willow White

ABO: Interactive Journal for Women in the Arts, 1640-1830. 2024 December; 14 (2) 10.5038/2157-7129.14.2.1426

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White, Willow

University of Delaware Press. 2024 June;

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Tiffany Potter and Willow White

Broadview Press. 2022 November;

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Eighteenth-Century Studies. 2022 March; 10.1353/ecs.2022.0019

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Women's Writing. 2021 July; 10.1080/09699082.2020.1847823

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View additional publications