Elizabeth McQueen

Elizabeth McQueen is a Postdoctoral Fellow at UC Davis as part of the Mellon Foundation Sawyer Seminar, Thinking Food at the Intersections. Her research examines the contradictions, anxieties, and aesthetics of contemporary performances that utilize food, from transnational performance art to global entertainment venues. Reflecting the collaborative nature of theater, she works with policymakers, nonprofits, chefs, and artists to contextualize and critically engage with food. Her writing can be found in Global Performance Studies, Theater Journal, and elsewhere. She holds a Ph.D. in Theater and Performance Studies and a certificate in Food Studies from UCLA.

Publications

Baur, Devon, Diana Damian, Felipe Cervera, Eero Laine, Elizabeth Schiffler, and Theron Schmidt, et al. “To Teach as if There Was No Future: Temporal Formations in Performance Pedagogy.” RiDE Journal. (2025). Under review.

 McQueen, Elizabeth. “Microbial Theatricality: Selfmade, Celebrity, and Scales of Hunger.” Global Performance Studies 6, no. 1–2 (2023). https://doi.org/10.33303/gpsv6n1-2a133

Callejas, Ileana A., Liana Huang, Marisol Cira, Benjamin Croze, Christine M. Lee, Taylor Cason, Elizabeth Schiffler, et al. “Use of Google Earth Engine for Teaching Coding and Monitoring of Environmental Change: A Case Study among STEM and Non-STEM Students.” Sustainability 15, no. 15 (August 4, 2023): 11995.  https://doi.org/10.3390/su151511995

 Baur, Devon and Elizabeth Schiffler. “Annotated Play Lists” in The Methuen Drama Handbook of Gender, edited by. Sean Metzger and Roberta Mock, 491-508. London: Bloomsbury Methuen, 2024

Schiffler, Elizabeth. “Proximity, Precarity, and Microscopic Distinctions in Nonhuman Performance: An Interview with Pei-Ying Lin.” Theatre Journal 74, no. 4 (December 2022): E-101-E-110.  https://doi.org/10.1353/tj.2022.0089

Select Public Media

“Why Do ’80s and ’90s Movies Always Feature Huge Breakfasts That Nobody Eats? Capitalism and Diet Culture Are Likely to Blame 🥞🍳.” Nowthis on TikTok. 29 February, 2024. https://www.tiktok.com/@nowthis/video/7340801403386006830

Schiffler, Elizabeth. “On the Theatricality of Food.” Midnite Snack, August 16, 2023.  https://midnitesnackmagazine.com/

Hueso, Noela. “TFT Student Elizabeth Schiffler Serves up Performance Art Dining Experience with ‘Imagine Dinner.’” UCLA Newsroom, April 18, 2023.  https://newsroom.ucla.edu/stories/elizabeth-schiffler-imagine-dinner-performance-art

Slusser, Wendy. “Where Food Meets Performance with Elizabeth Schiffler.” UCLA LiveWell.  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ucla-livewell/id1466451886