Professor Rachel Fensham is Professor of Dance and Theatre Studies in the School of Culture and Communication, Faculty of Arts, at the University of Melbourne. She holds a PhD from Monash University (1998), a Masters by Research, and a Bachelor of Arts (Honours). Her career includes prior appointment as Professor and Head of School of Dance, Film and Theatre at the University of Surrey (2006-2012). At the University of Melbourne since 2012, she has served as Head of the School of Culture and Communication, Assistant Dean in the Digital Studio, Faculty of Arts, and Inaugural Director of the Digital Studio.

Fensham's research specializations encompass dance and theatre history, digital humanities and heritage, performance studies, cultural history, gender studies, the materiality of costumes in twentieth-century choreography, and affective impact in theatre for young people. She is Lead Chief Investigator of the Australian Cultural Data Engine and was Chief Investigator on the ARC Linkage project Creative Convergence: Enhancing impact in regional theatre for young people (2017-2021). She was founding co-editor of the New World Choreographies book series (Palgrave Macmillan). Key publications include the monograph Theory for Theatre Studies: Movement (Bloomsbury, 2021), To Watch Theatre: Essays on Genre and Corporeality (Peter Lang, 2009), Designing for Movement: Dance Costumes, Art Schools and Natural Movement in the Early Twentieth Century (2015), Repetition as a methodology: Costumes, archives and choreography (2014), and forthcoming books Fabrications: Dance, Costume, and Material Culture (Oxford University Press, 2026) and Cultural Data: An Intimate Analytics of Cultural Collections (Routledge, 2026).

Professor Fensham's contributions have been honored with election as Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities (2025), recognizing her leadership in theatre, dance, performance, archives, material culture, and digital methods, and Fellowship of the Royal Society of Arts.

Professional Email: rachel.fensham@unimelb.edu.au