Rate My Professor Felix Nobis

Dr Felix Nobis serves as Senior Lecturer in Literary Studies within the Centre for Theatre and Performance at Monash University's Faculty of Arts. Before entering academia, he established a distinguished career as a professional actor, performing with prestigious companies such as Sydney Theatre Company, Belvoir St Theatre, Q Theatre, and Redstitch Actors Theatre, alongside extensive television work. As a performance maker, Nobis toured numerous one-person shows across Australia, Europe, and America. His translation of the Anglo-Saxon epic Beowulf received widespread acclaim, touring for several years, being published, and featured in a recording by ABC Radio National. In playwriting, he has held multiple Writer-in-Residence positions, notably as Affiliate Writer with Melbourne Theatre Company in 2008. His play Boy out of the Country, published by Currency Press in 2015, enjoyed extensive tours and was selected for the 2016 VCE Theatre Studies syllabus.

Nobis earned his PhD from Monash University in 2012, with a thesis titled The Presence of the Storyteller in Contemporary Practice and a Lost Tradition, exploring comparative storytelling practices in medieval and modern contexts. He previously obtained an MA in Old and Middle English from University College Cork in 2000, focusing on A Question of Faith: The Corpus Christi Cycle as Theatrical Event and Religious Experience, and a BA in English and History from the same university in 1998. His academic interests encompass Beowulf, medieval theatre, acting techniques, storytelling, work-integrated learning (WIL), and playwriting. Nobis has authored publications on performance-making, acting, and educational strategies, including "Dropping a part: The changing relationship of midlife actors with their profession" in About Performance (2015), "Performing chemistry: The benefits of bonding theatre and science" in Education in Chemistry (2017, co-authored), and "Leveraging a diverse collaboration in tertiary education to develop capability for workplace innovation" in the European Journal of Workplace Innovation (2023, co-authored). He supervises Honours and PhD candidates in areas such as orality, storytelling practices, directing, medieval performance, playwriting, and performance making. His contributions to teaching excellence are recognized through awards including the Australian Award for University Teaching Citation for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning (2020) for fostering intercultural, interdisciplinary, and teamwork skills via innovative pedagogies; Vice-Chancellor's Citation (2018); Faculty of Arts Education Fellowship (2018); Faculty Citation (2017); and Interfaculty Transformation Grants (2017-2019). Currently, his research focuses on Work Integrated Learning, where he serves as Coordinator in the Faculty of Arts.