Dr Elizabeth Ford

Professional biography

I have been a Staff Tutor with  the Open University since June 2020.  Prior to that I worked as an Associate Lecturere on a number of Arts and Humanities modules since 2012.  I am currently Tuition Lead for the level one interdisciplinary module Discovering the Arts and Humanities (A111).  I am a member of the Module Teams for A111 and the level three English Literature module Shakespeare to Austen.

Prior to joining the OU, I worked as Lecturer in English Literature at Cardiff University and the University of South Wales (2013-15), where I was responsible for developing and teaching undergraduate modules in Renaissance Studies and for setting up the MEMORI (Medieval and Early Modern Research Initiative) research programme.

I obtained my PhD, ‘Enter Will Kemp’: the role of the stage clown in the composition and revision of Shakespeare’s plays (1592-99) from Cardiff University in 2013. 

Research interests

My research is grounded in the material conditions of playwriting surrounding and informing the composition and revision of Shakespeare’s plays.  It is concerned, in particular, with the material culture of the Early Modern printed book and how traces of the social and cultural interactions between actors and playwrights can be found in the extant sixteenth and seventeenth-century printed copies of Shakespeare’s plays.  Liz recently gave a conference paper at the Institute of English Studies (March 2021) on Hamlet, considering how a brief first quarto passage from the 1601 printed text offers a rare glimpse of working relationships in Shakespeare’s theatre.

External/International collaboration

I am currently working on a project with associates at Aarhus University in Denmark on Trust and Risk in early modern literary texts.  The project aims to explore how best to connect the ethical, philosophical and linguistic expertise of literary studies to growing research in ‘Trust Studies’, a topic particularly applicable to my research and evaluations of Shakespeare’s authorship as either literary or theatrical. 

Impact and engagement

I've presented research papers at many national and international conferences, including the Renaissance Society of America International Conference in Venice (2010); the Seventeenth Century International Conference at Durham University (2008, 2010); the Medieval and Early Modern Studies Conference at the University of Geneva (2011); the British Shakespeare Association Conferences at Kings College, London (2009) and Lancaster University (2012).

Peer-reviewed publications include: Essays on ‘Sonnet 86’, ‘Sonnet 144’, ‘Sonnets 153 and 154’, in Companion to Shakespeare (eds. William Baker and Kenneth Womack (New York: Facts on File, Inc, 2012); ‘Newes from heaven: Will Kemp in Titus Andronicus’, Scintilla (2011); ‘Will Kemp, Shakespeare and the Composition of Romeo and Juliet’, Early Theatre (2010)

I am a member of the British Shakespeare Association and the Renaissance Society of America

Funding and awards

• The Professor U. R. Q. Enriques Scholarship for contributions to the intellectual and cultural life of the School of English, Communication and Philosophy, Cardiff University, 2010

• Cardiff University Graduate Schools Award for Renaissance Seminar Series, a series of ten papers given by visiting academics to the School of English, 2009

• Cardiff University Graduate Schools Award for Sacred Text-Sacred Space, an interdisciplinary research series of 15 speakers including a one-day conference, 2008