Ken Nielsen was a scholar of theater history, cultural studies, and composition. His interdisciplinary research focuses on the cultural construction and representation of the US and Scandinavia in intercultural performance. Most recently he has studied how gendered and sexualized American identities are produced through scenic representation in Western Europe.

His research project on “geographies of desire” is a study of how nation-states are eroticized through cultural performance. Both his research and his teaching of composition were invested in furthering an understanding of the interplay of popular culture, identity, cultural differences, rhetorics, and lived experience. 

Nielsen has published a number of articles, performance reviews, and book reviews.  His articles include “En Maerkelig Fugl: Eller Ikke at Vide, Om Man er Ravn eller Krage” in Synsvinkler (2002), “Mellem Fascisme og Modstand,” in Den Danske Tilskuer (2005), and “Gone With the Plague: Negotiating Sexual Citizenship in Crisis” in Nordic Theatre Studies(2014). He is also the author of Tony Kushner’s Angels in America, a Continuum Modern Theatre Guide.

Previously Ken Nielsen was a postdoctoral lecturer in the Princeton Writing Program where he taught a variety of writing seminars ranging from contemporary confession culture to tragedy. Prior to joining Princeton University, Nielsen taught at Queens College, CUNY, and served as the Assistant Director of the Writing Across the Curriculum Program.  Having lived, studied, and taught in Denmark, Lithuania, and the USA he has a deep interest and investment in translingual education.