April 10, 2026

by Lauren Ferguson

Dr. Peter Campbell, professor of theater history and criticism, has spent nearly two decades at Ramapo College of New Jersey, and it is still the only place he wants to be.

“I love working at a public liberal arts institution,” said Campbell, who earned both his M.F.A. and Ph.D. from Columbia University. “The mission of the College in terms of making sure that the people of the state of New Jersey have access to high-quality education and the ability to use that education to achieve whatever they want in life, and to make happy and successful lives for themselves, however they define that, is really important.”

The son of a Detroit Public Schools kindergarten teacher and a community college professor, he “grew up in a house of learning and art and literature,” where being a “helper” was ingrained from a young age, he said.

“We lived in Detroit. It was very much about a full-world view, that your job was to be a neighbor and a community member and a teacher and a resource and a helper,” he said.

Campbell’s fascination with theater also started as a child. When his father brought his students to the Shakespeare-focused theater at the larger Wayne State University in Detroit, he’d bring his son along. Throughout his childhood, Campbell did theater, and in high school he was in a professional company with now-famous names like Tony Award-winning actress Sutton Foster.

When it came time for Campbell to go off to college himself, he decided to stop doing theater and focus on being a literature major. The plan lasted one semester. “By the second semester, I was auditioning,” he laughed. And he realized he didn’t just enjoy acting, but also directing, mentoring, and “being somebody who helped younger folks learn.”

“Teaching was just a natural fit,” he said.

So was Ramapo.

Connecting with Roadrunners

During his 19-year tenure as a professor on campus, Campbell has served myriad additional roles from director of the College Honors Program, to dean of the School of Contemporary Arts to his current role as director of the First-Year Seminar Program.

“I’ve participated in the life and running of the college, and I love that,” he said.

As the director of Ramapo’s First-Year Seminar Program, Dr. Peter Campbell, center, participated in Ramapo’s 2025 Opening Convocation, where he introduced students to award-winning author Morgan Talty.

He also loves teaching and working with Ramapo students, who arrive on campus with a wide range of backgrounds, life experiences and dreams for their futures.

“Working in the theater is a great place to experience people where they are and also experience their potential, and hopefully get them to achieve some of that potential or at least see what they are capable of. It is always delightful for me to see students gain not just skills and knowledge and experience, but confidence and community,” he said.

As part of his dedication to giving Roadrunners a robust hands-on education, Campbell has been instrumental in bringing Play On Shakespeare to campus. The non-profit is dedicated to creating and promoting contemporary modern English translations of Shakespeare plays.

With the support of the Hitz Foundation, Ramapo held a staged reading of a new version of As You Like It, and will be hosting the premier full production of the play in the fall. It will be followed up by a staged reading and production of another new version of a Shakespeare play.

The partnership provides funding for the college to bring in high-level professional artists such as guest directors, designers and choreographers, and allows students to be in the midst of it all, participating in experiential learning opportunities, while seeing first-hand how the professional theater world works.

Staying Active in Theater

Besides being a professor, Campbell is also a scholar, dramaturg, writer and director. “The cool thing about being a theater professor is that I’m trained as a historian, but I’m also trained as a practitioner,” he said.

Dr. Peter Campbell is comfortable on the stage of Ramapo College’s  Sharp Theater.

His work as a director and dramaturg has been produced at venues including La Mama, The Chocolate Factory, Under the Radar Festival, ICA Boston, the Connelly Theater and The Red Room. He founded the online journal Theatre/Practice, and has published essays in publications such as Theatre Topics, Contemporary Theatre Journal, Modern Drama and Theatre History Studies.

Next spring, Campbell will be on sabbatical working on the development and workshop production of two of his original theatrical works: Poetics: A Noh and Viral.  Poetics: A Noh is slated for initial performances produced by Theatre Nohgaku in Tokyo, Japan next spring. Viral is being developed through The Orchard Project’s selective Greenhouse Lab and is scheduled for a workshop production in Saratoga Springs, NY, in early 2027. Both works align with Campbell’s scholarly research agenda, focusing on the contemporary adaptation of ancient Greek myth and theatrical forms.

Launching Careers

Back home at Ramapo, Campbell is enthusiastic about the College’s new Theater and Film major. The program, which began in the Fall 2025 semester, gives students a well-rounded foundation in storytelling, acting, directing, design, and film production, all with the advantage of hands-on learning experiences in theater and film.

“With the resources we have, I am really excited about the potential of the program,” he said.

He is also excited to witness more young people use the skills they learn in the theater to launch themselves into successful careers.

Dr. Peter Campbell, left, has mentored and taught students at Ramapo College for nearly 20 years.

Campbell has already seen Ramapo alumni go on to become actors, teachers, stage managers, technicians – and successes in communications, marketing and other pursuits. One of his students, who was very interested in the prop side of theater, went on to a career making artificial limbs for people who need them.

“We’re providing a space where young people can figure out who they want to be, which doesn’t mean they are all supposed to become actors. But if they go through college studying theater, they can do whatever they want to do after that,” he said.

For more information, visit Ramapo’s Theater and Film major webpage.