Associate Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Inclusive Learning and Teaching)
Originally from Aotearoa New Zealand, Emma Cox joined the Department of Drama and Theatre at Royal Holloway in 2010, following the completion of her PhD in Humanities at the Australian National University. She has since served in a number of leadership roles including Associate Dean (Education and Student Experience) for the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, and Head of Drama and Theatre.
Emma has consistently committed to inclusive pedagogy throughout her career, and was appointed as Associate Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Inclusive Learning and Teaching) in August 2026. Within this role, one of her key priorities is to develop new forms of inclusive and authentic assessment that challenge, engage and inspire Royal Holloway students. She is passionate about ensuring equitable access to university for all learners, as well as skills development with an employability focus; at Department level she worked alongside colleagues to develop and embed skills-led pedagogy, technical theatre training, and meaningful engagement with external practitioners and organisations.
Emma's research is deeply informed by principles of inclusion, social justice, and rights. She has an international profile in theatre and forced migration (with books Theatre & Migration and Refugee Imaginaries recognised as touchstones in the field), and more recently has worked across disciplines with legal and forensic experts on collaborative, reparative cultural practice, bringing together the performing and visual arts, medical humanities, and critical humanitarianism.
Emma currently serves as co-Chair of the Theatre and Performance Research Association (TaPRA), the UK’s leading organisation for theatre research, where she leads initiatives in global engagement and strategies for widening conference participation, spearheading tiered registration to support conference participation from low-income countries from 2026; sits on the steering group of the Global Arts Pact, an international consortium of research organisations led by the Presidents of the International Federation for Theatre Research and Performance Studies International; and regularly shares her research internationally, with keynotes at major annual conferences, such as the European Association for Theatre and Performance (EASTAP) and the Turkish Society for Theatre Research.
