Cristina A. Bejan, Phd.
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Education
University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom (Rhodes Scholar)
Doctor of Philosophy (DPhil) in Modern History, Wadham College, 2010
Thesis: The Criterion Association: Friendship, Culture & Fascism in Interwar Bucharest Masters of Studies (MSt) in Historical Research, Wadham College, 2006 Visiting Student, Philosophy, St. Anne’s College, 2002-2003
University of Bucharest, Bucharest, Romania (Fulbright Scholar)
Visiting Student, History Faculty, 2007-2008
Northwestern University, Evanston, IL
Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Philosophy (Honors), Weinberg College Scholar, 2004
Phi Beta Kappa, Cum Laude; Activities: Theater, Women’s Club Ice Hockey Team
Awards
2023 The Residency Project Short-list (Artist residency in Silverton, Colorado)
2021 Independent Author Network Book of the Year Finalist in History Non-Fiction (Intellectuals and Fascism in Interwar Romania)
2021 International Book Award Finalist in Education/Academic and History: General categories (Intellectuals and Fascism in Interwar Romania)
2021 Independent Press Book Award - Small Books (Green Horses on the Walls)
2021 Human Relations Indie Book Award Gold Winner - Historical; Silver Winner - Reflection;
Silver Winner - Realistic Poetry (Green Horses on the Walls)
2021 Human Relations Indie Book Award Honorable Mention - Personal Challenge Poetry (Green Horses on the Walls)
2021 Next Generation Indie Book Award Finalist - Women’s Issues (Green Horses on the Walls) 2021 Colorado Authors League Book Award Finalist - Cover Design (Green Horses on the Walls) 2021 Finalist - Faculty Senate Teaching Award, Metropolitan State University of Denver 2021 Diploma of Excellence, Cenaclul Românesc “Mircea Eliade”
2014 Title VIII Supported Research Scholar, Woodrow Wilson Center
2013 Distinguished Alumni Award, Northwestern University Department of Philosophy
2011 Title VIII Supported Research Scholar, Woodrow Wilson Center
2009 Yetta and Jacob Gelman Fellowship, Mandel Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum 2007 Pollard Grants for Travel and Books, Wadham College, University of Oxford 2007 Romanian Cultural Institute Grant for Foreign Researchers 2007 Fulbright Scholarship, funding extension granted due to merit 2006 Rex Warner Literary Prize Proxime Accesit (awarded for poetry translation)
2006 Semi-Finalist in Oxford University Dramatic Society New Writing Festival (awarded for play “Finally Quiet In My Head”)
2005 Finalist in Oxford University Dramatic Society New Writing Festival (awarded for play “Étrangère”)
2004 Rhodes Scholarship, 3rd year funding extension granted due to merit
2004 USA Today First-Team All-USA College Academic Team (photo on cover, feature article)
Leadership
2013-Present Co-Founder and Executive Director of Bucharest Inside the Beltway, Washington DC and Denver, CO
2021-Present Cultural Attaché, Sibiu, Romania - Durham, NC, USA (Sister Cities Program)
2020-2021 Co-Curator, “Romanian Women Voices in North America” literary partnership between the Romanian Cultural Institute of New York and Bucharest Inside the Beltway
2014 Women’s History Month Committee, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM)
2005-2007 Chapel Committee, Wadham College, University of Oxford
2005-2006 MCR (Graduate Student Union) President, Wadham College, University of Oxford
Teaching Experience
Metropolitan State University of Denver, Denver, CO
Affiliate Faculty, History & Theatre Departments, August 2019-present HIS 1040, World History since 1500 HIS 1045, History of Europe, Renaissance to Present HIS 1220, US History since 1865 HIS 3260-021, 20th Century Europe HIS 3770-017, World of Islam
THE 3211-2, Theatre History, Theory and Criticism I-II
THE 3213, Staging Cultures: Theatre, Drama, and Multiculturalism
Honors Program - Honors Thesis Main Supervisor (Holocaust and Global Genocide)
Foreign Service Institute, Arlington, VA
Guest Lecturer, Southeastern European History & Culture, March 2016-present
Duke University, Durham, NC
Instructor, History Department, January-April 2019 HIS 286, 20th Century European History
Wake Technical Community College, Raleigh, NC
Instructor, Humanities Department, January- December 2018 HIS 111, World Civilizations to 1500 HIS 112, World Civilizations from 1500
George Washington University, Washington DC Guest Lecturer, Sociology, 2014-2016
University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, NC Visiting Lecturer, History Department, 2012-2013
HIS 376, The History of Modern Germany, 1914 to 1945 HIS 740, Special Topics in European History: The Enlightenment
Georgetown University, Washington DC
Ion Ratiu Teaching Fellow, Romanian Studies, 2010-2011
REES 464-01, The Failure of Liberalism and Ascent of Dictatorship in Romania REES 463-01, Romanian Cultural Greats of the 20th Century
University of Bucharest, Bucharest, Romania
Guest Lecturer, American Studies, 2007-2008
University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
Instructor, English as a Foreign Language, 2006
Professional Research Experience
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM), Washington DC
Researcher, Mandel Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies, 2013-2016 Women’s History Month Committee, 2014 Yetta and Jacob Gelman Fellowship, Mandel Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies, 2009
Duke University, Durham, NC
Research Collaborator, History Department, 2018-2019 Visiting Scholar, History Department, 2012-2013 Research Scholar, Center for European Studies, 2012-2015
Woodrow Wilson Center, Washington DC
Public Policy Scholar (Global Europe Program), February-June 2014 Title VIII Research Scholar, June-September 2011
Academic Publications
Intellectuals and Fascism in Interwar Romania: The Criterion Association, Palgrave MacMillan, 2019. Reviewed favorably in The Times Literary Supplement, Slavic Review, Los Angeles Review of Books, Apasia Journal, RSAA Journal (Romanian Studies Association of the Americas), Hungarian Historical Review, and SLOVO (Journal of Russian, Eurasian and East European Affairs). Romanian translation by Alina Pavelescu and 2023 publication with Litera press.
The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos, 1933-1945, Volume III, University of Indiana Press, 2018. Authored 64 separate articles on camps and ghettos in North and West Africa, Eastern Europe, and France, and co-authored (with Aomar Boum) the volume’s introduction to Vichy Africa.
“Trauma, Affect, Memory and 21st Century Poetry - Cristina A. Bejan in Conversation with Arleen Ionescu,” Word and Text, Vol. 12, 2022.
“Book Review of Memories of Terror: Essays on Recent Histories ed. Mihaela Gligor,” Journal of the Society of Romanian Studies, Liverpool University Press, Volume 4, Issue 2, 2022.
“Book Review of A Generation Without Beliefs by Philip Vanhaelmeersch,” East Central Europe, no. 39, Leiden: Brill Press, 2012.
“The Paradox of the Young Generation in Interwar Romania,” SLOVO (Journal of Russian,
Eurasian and East European Affairs, no. 17.2, October 2006.
“The Autonomy of the Individual in a Newly Free Society: The Problem of Freedom in Romania,” Dogma, January 1, 2006.
“A Kantian Proposal for Newly Free Romania,” International Review: Revue de sciences politiques, Winter 2005.
Academic Works in Progress
“Victims of Colonialism - Muslim Africa and the Holocaust” (article)
“The Romanian National Theatre Under Totalitarianism” (article)
Other Publications (Poetry, Essay, Plays)
Finally Quiet: Four Plays from Bucharest to Washington DC, No Passport Press, 2023. Includes To Those Who Haven’t Stopped Thinking, DISTRICTLAND, Finally Quiet in My Mind and Life According to Swami Shiva.
Buchenwald (a play), Next Stage Press, 2023.
Green Horses on the Walls (poetry collection), Finishing Line Press, 2020. Reviewed favorably in Observator Cultural, Kirkus Reviews, Indiana Review, Cloud Lake Literary and Asymptote Journal. Romanian translation by Mădălina Mangalagiu and Fall 2022 publication in Romania with Editura Tracus Arte. -> AMONG other reviews!
“Mein Traum/My Dream,” (poem originally written in German and translated by Cristina A.
Bejan), South Broadway Press, January 2023.
“I’ve learned/Am învăţat,” poem by Octavian Paler (translation by Cristina A. Bejan), Copihue
Poetry, inaugural issue, 2022. Nominated for 2024 Deep Vellum Best Literary Translation Anthology.
“And if/Şi dacă,” poem by Mihai Eminescu (translation by Cristina A. Bejan), South Broadway Press, December 2022.
“Stop it! Don’t be a bully in the cyberworld or IRL,” ARCHER Coalition Blog, October 23, 2022.
“My ‘America’” (poem), Red Fern Review, July Summer Issue 2022.
Three Poems, Portals Issue, Polyglot Magazine, Edmonton, Canada, June 2022.
Poetry Contributor, Poetry Society of Colorado Centennial Anthology, June 2022.
“’I’m from a Tricky Diaspora:’ 2 poems on migrant identity by Romanian-American Cristina A. Bejan,” Calvert Journal, September 10, 2021.
“Disability as Invisible Illness - the Last Frontier,” ARCHER Coalition Blog, May 11, 2021.
“Poeme: Invitatul special ‘Cai verzi pe pereţi’ & ‘Bucuresţi,’” Opt Motive - Diaspora, Issue 57, March 29, 2021.
“Petru Comarnescu: The Democrat and Cultural Innovator,” Romanian Cultural Institute of New York Blog, November 2, 2020.
“Green Horses on the Walls by Cristina A. Bejan,” Blue Nib Literary Magazine, The Digital Nib, September 11, 2020.
“J’y suis, j’y reste” (a play), Voices on the Move: An Anthology by and about Refugees, Domnica Radulescu and Roxana Cazan (eds.), Solis Press, 2020.
“Colorado IE DAY - International Day of the Romanian Blouse,” Hora in America Magazine,
July 7, 2020.
“’The Book about Bucharest Old Town’ by Emanuela Grama,” Interview, Hora in America Magazine, May 12, 2020.
“Singing Romanian-American from the Rooftop,” Hora in America Magazine, March 1, 2020.
“Self-taught Moldovan artist in Colorado sparkles your Soul with a beautiful mind,” Interview with Angela Chirila. Hora In America Magazine, October 1, 2019.
“The Beauty of Stumbling in Life,” Fighting the World’s Fight: Rhodes Scholars in Oxford and Beyond (coffee table book), The Rhodes Trust, 2016.
“Rhodes Scholars Have Impact Across the Globe,” The Rhodes Trust, June 22, 2016.
“Toktok blong Vanuatu: the conversation we need to have about Cyclone Pam,” Returned Peace Corps Volunteers of Washington DC Blog, May 5, 2015.
“Review of The Book of Life, Daily Meditations with Krishnamurti (1995) by J. Krishnamurti,” Books of the Year, January 24, 2015.
Buchenwald (a play), Timpul Cultural Magazine, June-July 2008 (published in Romanian).
“A Hope for Romania: With a NATO bid, Romania makes her debut on the world stage,”
The Crucible Magazine, University of Oxford, 2003.
Conferences and Presentations
“BIPOC Emerging Playwrights Project - Flamboyan Theater,” Guest Speaker, Red Line Art Gallery, Denver, Colorado, April 2023.
“The Resilient Legacy of the Criterion Association,” Faculty of Letters, University of Transylvania, Braşov, Romania, March 27, 2023.
“DISTRICTLAND - From Joke to Stage to Screen: A Romanian-American’s DC Dream,”
Washington & Lee's 16th National Symposium of Theater in Academe “Women’s Voices Across Borders and Hyphenated Spaces,” Lexington, VA, March 31 - April 1, 2022.
“Worldwide Ukrainian Play Readings and More,” Immigration Research Forum Annual Conference, virtual presentation as IRF board member, December 3, 2022.
“Ukraine - Russia War: The View from Denver,” George Washington High School, Denver,
CO, March 25, 2022.
“Ukraine Conflict in Context - A Presidential Pop-up Panel,” Panelist, Metropolitan State University of Denver, Denver, CO, March 7, 2022.
“The Voiceful Eight - Romanian Women Voices of North America In-Person Event,” Culmination of collaboration between Bucharest Inside the Beltway and the Romanian Cultural Institute of New York, performed three spoken word poems, New York, NY, March 4, 2022.
“Albee, Absurdism, and Adaptation in ‘Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf’” - Panelist, Denver Project for Humanistic Inquiry (D-phi), Denver Performing Arts Center, Denver, CO, February 17, 2022.
“Global History at MSU Denver Series Presents: A Conversation with Cristina A. Bejan - To Discuss: Intellectuals and Fascism in Interwar Romania: The Criterion Association.”
Virtual book event, Metropolitan State University of Denver, History Department,
December 9, 2021.
“United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos, 1933-1945,
Volume III - Archival Work,” Invited Zoom lecture to BA and MA students, the University of Jonkoping, Sweden, November 10, 2021.
“Antisemitism - A Global Concern: In Dialogue with Adrian Cioflâncă and Ovidiu Raeţchi,” ARCHER Virtual Event, May 28, 2021.
“Intellectuals and Fascism in Interwar Romania: The Criterion Association - Book Presentation,” Invited Zoom lecture to MA students, the University of Bucharest, March 15, 2021.
“The Scholarship - a protest play,” by James Brunt (Brunt Poetry) & Cristina A. Bejan (Lady
Godiva), inspired by Black Lives Matter and Rhodes Must Fall, Washington & Lee's 15th National Symposium of Theater in Academe “Theater and Social Change: Gender, Race and Identity,” virtual conference April 1-2, 2021.
“Romanian National Day from the Perspective of an American Historian,” Romanian-American Freedom Alliance (RAFA) Virtual Celebration, December 1, 2020.
“Western Colonialism Examined: In Dialogue with Professor Mpondi (MSU Denver),” ARCHER Virtual Event, August 14, 2020.
“On Race and Anti-Racism: In Dialogue with Professor Marius Turda (Oxford Brookes University, UK),” ARCHER Virtual Event, July 16, 2020.
“Day of the Romanian Language: Limbă româna este patria mea: Virtual Poetry Performance,” Romanians in DC, August 31, 2020.
“The Romanian Revolution Through the Eyes of a Girl Born in Boulder,” RAFA Celebration of Romanian National Day, Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, November 30, 2019.
“Indecent by Paula Vogel - Panel Discussion on Jewish History,” Denver Project for Humanistic Inquiry (D-phi), Denver Performing Arts Center, Denver, CO, September 18, 2019.
"The Piteşti Experiment: The Crimes of Communist Romania,” Romanians in Colorado, Koelbel Library, Centennial, CO, September 15, 2019.
"The Romanian National Theatre Under Totalitarianism,” Cenaclul Românesc Mircea Eliade, Frederick, CO, August 25, 2019.
"The Rise and Fall of Populism in Europe,” Great Decisions Speakers Series, Women’s Club of Raleigh, NC, April 4, 2019.
"The Holocaust in Romania: Current State and Trends,” European Holocaust Research Infrastructure (EHRI) selected seminar participant, Elie Wiesel Institute, Bucharest,
Romania, February 18-22, 2019.
“Finding Home: Migration, Exile and Belonging,” Invited Panelist, Theatre Communications Group Global Pre-Conference, Georgetown University, Washington DC, June 22, 2016.
“The Holocaust in Southeastern Europe,” Foreign Service Institute, Arlington, VA, March 4, 2016.
“Conflict and Cultural Destruction: Why Totalitarian Regimes Seek to Destroy Historical
Memory,” Invited Panelist, Woodrow Wilson Center, Washington DC, January 28, 2016. Featured on C-SPAN.
“Reasonable Accommodations & Roma Issues in Contemporary Europe,” Conference Organizer, Duke and Wake Forest Universities, April 7-8, 2015.
“Beyond the Horizon: A Rhodes Retrospective Ten Years On,” Invited Speaker at Rhodes House, Oxford, United Kingdom, October 14, 2014.
“The Roma and Human Rights: Challenges and Goals in 2014 - Lessons from the Past, Eyes to the Future,” Chair and Introduction, Woodrow Wilson Center, Washington DC, May 19, 2014.
“From Vichy to Swaraj: The Untold Story of Romanians and Fascism in North Africa and India,” Association for the Study of Nationalities, New York, NY, April 25, 2014.
“A Romany Martin Luther King Jr.? Civil Rights and Roma Rights, a Comparative History, ” Roma: Political Representation, Society and Human Rights Conference, American University Washington College of Law, Washington DC, March 27, 2014.
“Madame Hélène Cazès-Benatar: The Woman and the Archive,” USHMM, Women’s History Month, Washington DC, March 18, 2014.
“Mihail Sebastian in Theatre and Memory: Holocaust Education in Contemporary Romania,” ASEEES 45th Annual Convention, Boston, MA, November 23, 2013.
“Intellectuals and Fascism in Interwar Bucharest: Criterion Association,” Triangle Intellectual History Seminar, National Humanities Center, Durham, NC, October 21, 2012.
“Modernity Aborted: The Criterion Association of Interwar Bucharest,” 5th Annual Romanian Studies Conference, University of Indiana Bloomington, March 30-31, 2012.
“Rhinocerization: Political Activity and Allegiances of Romania’s Young Generation 1935-39,” ASEEES 43rd Annual Convention, Washington DC, November 20, 2011.
“Theatre and the Holocaust in Romania,” Woodrow Wilson Center, Washington DC,
September 27, 2011.
“Different Paths to Fighting the World’s Fight,” American Association of Rhodes Scholars, Washington DC, June 3, 2011.
“Culture, Modernity and Extremism: The Criterion Association of Interwar Bucharest,” Romanian Cultural Centre, March 7, 2011, and Ion Ratiu Inaugural Lecture, Riggs Library, Georgetown University, November 30, 2010.
“The Criterion Association of Arts, Literature and Philosophy: Creation, Symposia and Politics in Bucharest 1932,” University of Maryland, College Park, April 23, 2009.
“Fascism and Drama in Romania: The Case of Marietta Sadova and the Iron Guard,” Mandel Center, USHMM, Washington DC, April 15, 2009.
“A Question of Honor: The Dissolution of the Criterion Association (1934-35),” Babe§-Bolyai University, Cluj, Romania, July 10-11, 2008.
“Intellectual and Cultural Life in Interwar Bucharest,” International Women’s Association, Fulbright Commission, Bucharest, Romania, May 26, 2008.
“Perspectives on Romanian Culture: Then and Now,” Duke University, Durham, NC, August 30, 2007.
“From Foreign Education to Nationalist Doctrine: The Interwar Intellectuals of Romania,” Central European University, Budapest, Hungary, May 18-20, 2007.
“Escape from Reason: The Interwar Intellectuals of Romania,” Third Romanian-Moldovan Studies Day, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom, May 11, 2007.
“From East and West: How Education Abroad Influenced the Interwar Intellectuals of Romania,” University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom, April 19-21, 2007.
“A Clear Mind Amidst the Nonsense: The Appeal of Fascism to the Romanian Intelligentsia in the Interwar Period,” University College London, London, United Kingdom, May 19, 2006.
“Mentality and Transition: The Historical Relationship in Romania,” Central European University, Budapest, Hungary, May 5-7, 2006.
Selected Media Coverage
V. Ernu, Libertatea Romanian National Newspaper Interview (Parts 1 & 2), July 24 & 28, 2023.
- Badicioiu Matei, “Cristina A. Bejan: În 1989, când am putut veni în România, a început
misiunea mea de mă cunoaşte. Într-un fel, toate scrierile mele personale se întorc la acest punct,” IQads, April 27, 2023.
TVR Cultural, “Jurnal Cultural,” Interview with Cristina A. Bejan, Live Romanian National TV, March 31, 2023.
TVR International, “A doua Românie” Interview with Cristina A. Bejan and Mădălina Mangalagiu conducted by Corina Dobre, Romanian international TV broadcast, March 31, 2023.
T. Bohlen, “Ukraine+ Freedom Arts Showcase Debuts in Denver,” Denver Westword, December 13, 2022.
D. Branea, “Cristina A. Bejan: „Sunt o activistă şi o războinică a justiţiei sociale,” Orizont Culturale Italo-Române, May 5, 2022.
- Sinclair, “Visibility and Justice: Cristina A. Bejan Interview,” BOMB Magazine, April 21, 2022.
T. Hernandez, “University experts weigh in on Ukraine,” Met Media, The Student Voice of MSU Denver, March 23, 2022.
- Reckelhoff, “Following Your Intellectual and Creative Passions with Cristina A. Bejan,” Northwestern University Intersections Podcast, Ep. 111, March 17, 2022.
M. Watson, “Russian Invasion Tests the International World Order,” RED, Metropolitan State University of Denver, March 14, 2022.
T. Bohlen, “Bucharest Inside the Beltway Launches in Denver,” The Denver Westword, December 10, 2021.
G. Gervais, “RADIANCE Virtual New Play Showcase to be Livestreamed This December,” Broadway World, December 4, 2021.
J. Lavender, “An Award-Winning Poet’s Roadrunner Journey,” Metropolitan State University of Denver Early Bird, July 22, 2021.
T. Bohlen, “Cristina Bejan Named Indie Finalist for Green Horses on the Walls,” The Denver Westword, June 25, 2021.
M-C. Necula, “Cristina A. Bejan - A True Champion of Cultural Diversity,” Women Around Town, May 17, 2021.
S. Seegel, “Cristina A. Bejan, ‘Intellectuals and Fascism in Interwar Romania: The Criterion Association,” New Books Network Podcast, November 23, 2020.
C. Lescu, “Radio România International interviu cu Cristina A. Bejan,” November 5, 2020.
T. Stan, “Profilul rezilienţei identitare în diaspora: Scriitoarea Cristina Bejan,” Revista Cultura,
Year 14 No. 6 (602), June 2019.
T. Kissane, “Art & Politics, Then and Now. Historian and playwright Cristina Bejan chronicles the Criterion Association,” Artist Soapbox Podcast, April 15, 2019.
- Woods, “Danai Gurira’s Obie-Winning Eclipsed Gets Intimate with Women Facing Impossible Choices in War-Torn Liberia,” Indy Week, August 1, 2018.
J. Zauzmer, “In Districtland, show stars the District of Columbia as itself,” Washington Post,
August 26, 2015.
- Oliver, “Finally Quiet in My Head at DC Black Theatre Festival,” DC Theatre Scene,
June 22, 2015.
J. Stoltenberg, “DC Black Theatre Festival: ‘Finally Quiet in My Head,’” DC Metro Theater Arts, June 22, 2015.
- Gheorghe, “Cultures Connect: A Bridge of Art, Science and Wisdom at the 2014 Alianţa Awards
Gala,” Huffington Post, October 15, 2014.
S. Kaplan, “‘Districtland’: Short on plot and long on clichés but still hilariously, painfully true,” Washington Post, July 14, 2014.
A. Muraru, “Zalmoxis reloaded la Washington,” Observatorul Cultural, No. 580, June 24, 2011.
- Saiciuc, “Zamolxe în premiera la Washington,” Radio Romania Actualităţi, May 26, 2011.
N. Melinescu, “‘Zamolxe’ - premiera la Washington,” TVR, TV 1, May 2, 2011.
“An Independent Theatre Production in Port Vila,” Daily Post Vanuatu, April 27, 2010.
L. Mustafa, “O româncă din SUA inovează teatrul din Bucureşti,” Evenimentul Zilei, July 11, 2009.
V. Tismaneanu and Cristian Vasile, “Fascism, teatru si istorie,” Apostrof, Yr 20, No. 9 (232), 2009.
G. Stănescu, “Sper ca pot să fac mai multe proiecte despre istoria ideilor din România,” Interview with C. Bejan, OpiniaNatională, No. 470, Bucharest, Romania, December 15, 2008.
A. Zidarescu, “Maia Morgenstern: ‘să renunţăm la prejudecăţi şi complexe!,’” Evenimentul Zilei, November 29, 2008.
S. Schiopu, “LOISIR. Evenimentele. Exponatele mobile din muzee,” Observator Cultural, No. 431, July 2008.
Playwright - Play Productions & Staged Readings (full list of plays on newplayexchange.org)
Denver, CO, USA
“Teresa Jane - a Colorado origin story,” in progress, developed with the BETC Writers Group, Butterfly Effect Theatre Company, Boulder.
“Life According to Swami Shiva,” Colorado Women’s Theatre Festival, Milibo Art Theatre (MAT), Colorado Springs, April 21 - May 1, 2022.
“The Scholarship - a protest play” coauthored with James Brunt, Washington & Lee’s 15th National Symposium of Theater in Academe “Theater and Social Change: Gender, Race and Identity,” virtual conference April 1-2, 2021. Dramatist Guild Footlights performance promoted by ARCHER, October 23, 2021. US premiere professional production by Theatre 29 Denver + Bucharest Inside the Beltway, December 18, 2021. Staged Reading at Baron’s Court Theatre, London April 30, 2022.
“Ol Woman Naoia” coauthored with 13 playwrights in Port Vila, Vanuatu, Black History Month Festival, International Centre for Women Playwrights, 2021. Zoom and YouTube.
Raleigh, NC, USA
“Colombo Calling - a play from Sri Lanka,” Imurj, 2018. (starring Seema Kukreja)
Washington DC, USA
“Colombo Calling - a play from Sri Lanka,” Page to Stage Festival, Kennedy Center, 2016. “Lady Godiva,” Mead Theatre Lab Program, Source Theatre, 2016.
“Finally Quiet In My Head,” DC Black Theatre Festival, Anacostia Arts Center, 2015.
“Life According to Swami Shiva,” Love Sucks Valentine’s Showcase, Theatre J, 2015. “Districtland,” CapitalFringe Festival, Redrum, 2014 (script bought for TV development and TV pilot headlined the 2015 DC Independent Film Festival).
Bucharest, Romania
“Colombo Calling - a play from Sri Lanka,” Teatral Foarte Mic & Museo Café, 2008 (starring Maia Morgenstern)
University of Oxford, United Kingdom
“Finally Quiet In My Head,” Moser Theatre, 2006. (Semi-Finalist, OUDS New Writing Festival)
“Gateway to Heaven” & “Credo” (two one-acts), Moser Theatre, 2005.
“Étrangère,” Burton Taylor Theatre, 2005. (Finalist, OUDS New Writing Festival)
“To Those Who Haven’t Stopped Thinking,” Burton Taylor Theatre, 2003.
“In Search of Couches,” Burton Taylor Theatre, 2002.
Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA “Buchenwald,” Struble Theatre, 2004.
Theatre Consultant and Dialect Coach (Romanian language and accent)
2015-2016 Mosaic Theatre - "After the War” by Motti Lerner 2014 Williamstown Theatre Festival - "Mad Forest" by Caryl Churchill
Sound Design, Producing, Directing (for theater resume visit cristinaabejan.com/theatre-artist)
2022 Producer, Director & Curator, Ukraine+ Freedom Arts Showcase, MSU Denver 2019 Sound Designer, Fearless Theatre, “Antigone,” by Jean Anouilh, Denver, Colorado
- Sound Designer, Burning Coal Theatre, “Darkside” by Tom Stoppard, North Carolina
- Producer, Women’s Theatre Festival, “Eclipsed” by Danai Gurira, North Carolina 2006 Assistant Director, Wilton’s Music Hall, UK premiere of "Performances" by Brian Friel
Selected Training
CANVAS Training Course, MSU Denver, Denver, CO, 2020.
Facilitator Training (Social Justice in the Arts), Creative Strategies for Change, Denver, CO, 2020. Theatre of the Oppressed, DC Coalition for Theatre and Social Justice, Washington DC, 2014.
Professional Memberships
The Association of American Rhodes Scholars
The Fulbright Association
Colorado Authors League
Dramatist Guild of America
International Centre for Women Playwrights
Poetry Society of Colorado
Poetry Society of Colorado
Phi Beta Kappa
Volunteering and Service
Oxford University Press (Internal book reviewer)
Journal of Contemporary European History, Cambridge University Press (Internal reviewer) Bucharest Inside the Beltway (Arts and Culture Organization, Founding Executive Director, Washington DC and Denver, CO, 2013-present)
Immigration Research Forum (Board of Directors, Washington DC, 2020-present)
ARCHER (American Romanian Coalition for Human and Equal Rights, Vice President, Board of Directors, Chicago, IL, 2020-present)
ALIANŢA (Romanian & American Alliance, Advisory Board, Washington DC, 2014-present) Project HOPE - Ukraine War refugee relief (Washington DC, 2022-present)
Blue Heron Foundation - Ukraine War refugee relief (Los Angeles, CA, 2022-present)
RAFA (Romanian American Freedom Alliance, Boulder, CO, 2019-present)
Roma People’s Project (Columbia University, 2020-present)
NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness, Arlington, VA, 2010-present)
RAINN Speakers Bureau (2015-2017)
Fearless Theatre (Social Justice Director, Denver, 2019-paused due to the pandemic)
Roshni (Empathy Through the Arts, storytelling workshops with refugees, Aurora, CO, 2019-2020) Activate Good (Community Service Organization, Raleigh, NC, 2017-2019)
VANGO (Vanuatu Association of NGOs, Port Vila, Vanuatu, 2010)
UNIFEM (Port Vila, Vanuatu, 2010)
International Medical Corps (Report Writer and Training Facilitator, Colombo, Sri Lanka, 2006; Fundraiser 1996-present)
Freedom House (Internship, Bucharest, Romania, 2002)
Languages
English (native)
Romanian, German (advanced)
French, Bislama [South Pacific pidgin] (full proficiency)
Hungarian, Yiddish, Russian, Ukrainian, Ruthenian, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Flemish (research proficiency)
Interests
Mentorship; social justice; multicultural advocacy; academic and artistic collaboration; program development; European, South Asian, and African history; the Holocaust and global genocide; totalitarianism; Eastern philosophies and religions; pre-colonial history of the islands of the Pacific; BIPOC, indigenous, LGBTQIA+, disability, non-binary, trans and women’s rights; immigrant and refugee rights; human rights; decolonization (in the classroom and society); youth empowerment; creativity; artistic production; non-profits; theater (author of 19 plays and theatre artist of all dimensions); spoken word poetry (performs under stage-name Lady Godiva); social media (both personal and professional experience with all major platforms); Weebly and Wix website design, creation, and management; QLab; Video Editor; teamwork; leadership; producing events; project management; volunteering; activism.