Faculty Spotlight Series – Professor Stephanie Daniels

Name: Stephanie Burlington Daniels
Position: Associate Professor, Theatre and Dance
Years at Wheaton: 19 years (plus 4 years as a student)
Hometown: Well, that’s complicated…. But mostly, I grew up in Maplewood, NJ and York Beach, Maine.
Education: BA from Wheaton College, Norton, MA and a MFA in Acting from Trinity Rep Conservatory, Providence, RI

Where is your favorite spot to work from home?
There is a couch by a window, great light and a spring breeze. And a sound machine.

What one thing do you miss most from campus?
I sorely miss coming to campus every day, from the walk by the pond to my building (the three white birch trees that I love), to every single human interaction I get to have…. from chats with my beloved students, being challenged and engaged with my incredible teaching colleagues, and connecting with dear friends who work tirelessly on all of our behalves who work on the staff, and Steve who cleans our building, and catching hugs with Maria who is in charge of the evening shift of buildings and grounds. Mostly, I miss the unplanned hilarity of daily life on campus and laughing too loudly in the hallways….. and impromptu hallway meetings with Clinton O’Dell where we dream and scheme and comfort one another.

What are you currently watching on TV or reading?
The list is soooooo long….. but I’m reading the libretto of Dear Evan Hanson and Jazz by Toni Morrison. I’m watching live recordings of a whole bunch of plays and musicals on BroadwayHD, the Ozarks, and Trolls.

What is the best thing about being in quarantine?
Rediscovering yoga with my 10 year old son, Laurence. We take a lot of deep breaths these days!

What do you enjoy outside of work?
Gardening and outdoor labor. It turns out, I love to rake, especially with a new narrow headed chrome colored resin rake. I also transplanted 20 perennials yesterday, helped create and plant a raspberry patch, and today I readied the earth for 10 new areas for butterfly loving plants, and then spread the seed for it to germinate over the next two weeks.

What is your favorite movie?
The Color Purple

Who is your favorite fictional hero?
Hermoine Granger

What is your motto?
DON’T LET THE BASTARDS GET YOU DOWN

If you weren’t teaching your current discipline what would you teach?
Geology. I love Earth Science, volcanoes and earthquakes.

What is something surprising about you that most people don’t know?
I have not, as of yet, been able to learn a foreign language. I’ve tried Spanish, French, Latin, and I tried my hat at Portuguese one winter 20 years ago when I thought about moving to Brazil.

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