Jessica Riddell

Jessica Riddell is a full professor of early modern literature in the English Department at Bishop’s University, specializing in early modern dramatic and non-dramatic literature.

She holds the Stephen A. Jarislowsky Chair of Undergraduate Teaching Excellence at Bishop’s University; in this capacity, she leads conversations on quality undergraduate education in Canada and around the world. Riddell is also the executive director of the Maple League of Universities, a consortium of four universities that share a focused commitment to quality undergraduate experience. She works closely with university presidents across Canada on local and national initiatives to enhance undergraduate student experiences, including on issues of funding, domestic student mobility, undergraduate research, but also on defining and advocating for a twenty-first-century liberal education.

Riddell is an active contributor to public scholarship through her work as an award-winning columnist for University Affair Magazine, a keynote speaker internationally, and a regular contributor on national news programs, including CBC Sunday Edition, CBC Sunday Magazine, CBC Quebec AM, and The Globe and Mail. She earned a PhD in English literature from Queen’s University, Ontario.