Alexis Stanley

Alexis Stanley received her PhD in French, with Designated Emphases in both New Media and Renaissance & Early Modern Studies, from the University of California, Berkeley in 2025. Prior to matriculation at UC Berkeley, she spent three years as an Élève de la Sélection internationale at the École normale supérieure (ENS) in Paris, France, where she concurrently received an MA in French Literature jointly conferred by the ENS, Université Paris-Sorbonne (Paris IV), and Université Sorbonne Nouvelle (Paris III).

Her current book project, Gestures of Enlightenment: Theatricality and Embodiment in 18th-Century France, investigates the influence the "Age of Reason" exerted on the development of theatrical techniques and literary accounts of bodily expression and gesture in France. With particular attention to the work of Denis Diderot and the practices of dance, pantomime, and theater, the work engages with French Enlightenment discourse through the triple lens of literary studies, performance studies, and new media studies. This project expands upon her doctoral research, which was supported by UC Berkeley's Berkeley-Mellon Fellowship and David & Aileen Wang Family Fellowship in the Humanities and Social Sciences, as well as by the Institute of International Studies and Phi Beta Kappa's 2022 Walter J. Jensen Fellowship.

Additionally, Alexis's research is informed by her work as a professional dancer, choreographer, and teacher. She has danced professionally in America and France and interned with American Ballet Theatre, Dance Magazine and Pointe magazine. Most recently, her collaborative new media and choreographic work has been featured in the New Art City Festival at Gray Area / Grand Theater in San Francisco.