Katherine Swimm got her PhD from Tufts University in Theatre and Performance Studies in 2017. Her work examines performances of madness in the broader context of nineteenth-century medical discourse. Her other academic interests include British theatre in the Regency and Victorian Eras, religion in performance (particularly American Spiritualism and Evangelicalism), the performance of science, and politics in performance. Katherine also works as an actor and director in the Boston area. She earned her MA in Literature from Northwestern University, and a BFA in Theatre Performance/BA in English from Niagara University.