Dr. Travis Brisini

Assistant Professor (Performance Studies)

B.A. Kutztown University, English Literature (Minor: Speech Communication) (2005)
M.S. Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, Speech Communication (2007)
Ph.D. Louisiana State University, Communication Studies (2012)
Email: [email protected]
Office: 230 Coates Hall
Pronouns: He/Him/His

Research & Teaching

Travis Brisini (Ph.D., LSU) is a professional-in-residence in the Department of Communication Studies. His post-qualitative research interests include performance theory and methodology, autoethnographic and performative writing, the ontological turn (posthumanism, new materialism, neo-vitalism, etc.), multispecies studies, bioregionalism, new thalassology, and non-human performance. His creative work blends the physical sciences with contemporary aesthetics and experimental writing to produce performances that interrogate the profound, productive, and possibly tenuous relationships between humans, nonhumans, and the material world. His work has been published in a variety of journals and books, including Text and Performance Quarterly, The Journal of Autoethnography, and Women & Language.

Brisini currently serves as an Associate Editor of Text and Performance Quarterly, editing the “Year in Books” (2019-2024) and the “Performance Space” (2022-2024).

Undergraduate & Graduate Courses

CMST 4142 – Selected Topics in Performance Studies (Environmental Performance)
CMST 4141 – Analysis and Performance of Narrative (Storytelling: Form, Brand, Identity)
CMST 3900 – Creative Collaboration
CMST 3041 – Performance and Everyday Life
CMST 3040 – Performance Composition
CMST 2060 – Public Speaking
HNRS 2020 – Foundations of Civic and Community Engagement
CMST 2040 - Introduction to Performing Literature*

*Brisini serve as the Course Director for CMST 2040

Awards and Honors

Outstanding Paper in Performance Studies: “Phytomorphizing Performance” (Central State Communication Association: Performance Studies and Autoethnography Interest Group - 2021)

Top Competitive Paper in Performance Studies: “Mapping the ‘Naturecultural Turn’ in Performance Studies (National Communication Association: Performance Studies Division – 2020)

Cynthia Finch Award for Teaching Excellence in Communication Arts and Sciences (Penn State University 2017-2018)

Selected Publications:

Articles

Brisini, Travis. “Mapping the ‘Naturecultural Turn’ in Performance Studies.” Text and Performance
Quarterly, vol. 41, no. 1-2, 2021, pp. 1-48. [lead article]

Simmons, Jake, and Travis Brisini. “Performance Studies in Communication.”
Text and Performance Quarterly vol. 40, no. 1, 2020, pp. 1-48. [lead article]

Brisini, Travis. “The Laughter Unto Death: Hillary Clinton, Feminine Laughter, and a Cannibal
Witch Conspiracy.” Women & Language vol 42, 2019, no. 2, pp. 203-226.

--. “The Mystical and the Mundane: The Human/Animal Distinction in Animal
Parade.” Text and Performance Quarterly vol. 39, no. 2, 2019, pp. 173-175.

--. “Phytomorphizing Performance: Plant Performance in an Expanded Field” Text
and Performance Quarterly, vol. 39, no.1, 2019, pp. 3-2. [lead article]

--. “Precarity Afoot: Material Performatives as Evolutionary Relations Across DeepTime.” Text and Performance Quarterly, vol. 38, no. 1, pp. 1-17. doi:10.1080/10462937.2018.1457175 [lead article]

Book Chapters

Brisini, Travis. “Posthumanism and Performance.” The Routledge Handbook of Performance Studies Research Methods, edited by Craig Gingrich-Philbrook and Jake Simmons. Routledge, 2022.

Brisini, Travis, and Jake Simmons. “Posthumanist Autoethnography.” Handbook of
Autoethnography, 2nd ed, edited by Carolyn Ellis, Stacy Holman Jones, and Tony Adams. Routledge, 2021.