Rate My Professor Ruth Hemus

Hemus's research centres on avant-garde literature, performance, and visual arts of the early 20th century, with a focus on women and gender, including Dada and Surrealism figures such as Céline Arnauld, Emmy Hennings, Sophie Taeuber, Hannah Höch, and Suzanne Duchamp, extending to later 20th- and 21st-century manifestations. Key publications include Dada’s Women (Yale University Press, 2009), examining five pioneering Dada women, and The Poetry of Céline Arnauld: From Dada to Ultra-Modern (Legenda, 2020). Recent works feature 'Winged Things: Insects and Birds as Flying Messengers in Céline Arnauld’s Poetry' (Nottingham French Studies, 2023). She has supervised PhD theses on topics including rebellion in Dada and Surrealist women's art, formal innovation in avant-garde women's writing, and the marvellous in Surrealist women's works. Awards include the College Excellence Teaching Prize (2017), NCCPE Images of Public Engagement Commendation (2018), and R. H. Gapper Prize Commendation (2010) for Dada’s Women. Her research formed the REF 2021 impact case study 'Dada's Women: Legacies at the Dada Centenary and Beyond', informing collaborations with Tate Exchange, National Theatre, Southbank Centre, Glasgow's Centre for Contemporary Arts, and international sites like Henie Onstad Kunstsenter (Norway), Louisiana Museum (Denmark), Nicola Trussardi Foundation (Italy), Cabaret Voltaire and Forum Schlossplatz Aarau (Switzerland). With composer Sonia Allori and artist Vaia Paziana, she has created multimedia performances and participatory workshops. Public contributions include BBC Radio 4's In Our Time on Dada, keynotes, and invited talks.