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Beth Wynstra

  • Associate Professor
Academic Division: Arts & Humanities
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781-239-5516
Beth Wynstra teaches courses in Dramatic Literature, Theater History, Acting, and Public Speaking. She holds a Ph.D. in Theater Studies from the University of California at Santa Barbara and a certificate in Directing from the Yale School of Drama. Beth is the Faculty Director of the Center for Engaged Learning and Teaching at Babson.

Beth's book Vows, Veils, and Masks: The Performance of Marriage in the Plays of Eugene O'Neill (University of Iowa Press, Theater History and Culture Series) was published in 2023. She has lectured on O'Neill at prominent regional and professional theaters across the U.S. and has written extensively on the playwright's life and works. Beth serves on the board of the Eugene O'Neill International Society.

In 2019 Beth won the Dean's Award for Teaching Excellence and the PRIDE award for significant contributions in creating a community that values, supports, and celebrates lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning (LGBTQ) individuals and allies. In 2023, Beth won the Babson Scholarship Award for Multidimensional Research.

Beth regularly directs plays and musicals at Babson and is the Founding Artistic Director of The Empty Space Theater. In 2022, she directed a world premiere production in Kansas called Heart/Roots: Wabaunsee County, written by her Babson colleague Mary Pinard. In her free time, Beth enjoys swimming, going to the theater, traveling, and spending time with her husband Brandon and her daughter Alison (8).

Academic Degrees

  • Ph D, University of California, Santa Barbara
  • MA, University of California, Irvine
  • BA, Lafayette College

Academic Interest / Expertise

Modern Drama; Political Theater; Public Speaking and Performance; Rhetorical history and theory; Eugene O'Neill; Gender Studies

Awards & Honors

  • 2023 — Scholarship Award for Multidimensional Research, Babson College
  • 2019 — Deans' Award for Teaching Excellence, Babson College
  • 2019 — Pride Award, Faculty Recipient, Babson College

Courses

  • Degree Courses 2024

    • HUM 4620 CONSTRUCTING AND PERFORMING THE SELF

  • Degree Courses 2023

    • HUM 4601 PLACE SPACE OCC:PUBLIC DISCOURSE THEORY
    • PRF 1120 THEATER PRODUCTION WORKSHOP
    • PRF 1200 ACTING WORKSHOP
    • LTA 2003 DRAMATIZING THE AMERICAN DREAM

  • Degree Courses 2022

    • HUM 4620 CONSTRUCTING AND PERFORMING THE SELF
    • LVA 2001 STAGING IMMIGRATION

Publications

Journal Articles

  • Wynstra, C.B., Pinard, M.C. (2023). The Heart/Roots Project and a Pandemic Pivot. Journal of American Drama and Theater. CUNY Graduate Center. link
  • Wynstra, C.B., Cummings, K.H., Rodgers, V.L., Stillwagon, J.R., Tosti-Kharas, J. (2020). "Teaching 'Beyond the Horizon': Transdisciplinary Approaches". Eugene O'Neill Review, The. Vol: 41, Issue: 1, Page: 69-91. Penn State University Press.
  • Wynstra, C.B. (2016). "Eugene O'Neill: Inside and Outside the Classroom". Eugene O'Neill Review, The. Vol: 37, Page: 185-188. Pennsylvania State University Press.
  • Wynstra, C.B. (2014). "It Sounds Wonderful, Doesn't It?”: Promises of Marriage in the Plays of Eugene O'Neill. Eugene O'Neill Review, The. Vol: 35, Issue: 1, Page: 1-14. Penn State University Press. link

Books

  • Wynstra, C.B. (2023). Vows, Veils, and Masks: The Performance of Marriage in the Plays of Eugene O'Neill. University of Iowa Press. link

Book Chapters

  • Wynstra, C.B. (2021). From Page to Stage: Dramaturging the Female Voices of the Provincetown Players": Teaching Modernist Women Writers in English. Modern Language Association of America.
  • Wynstra, C.B. (2021). “Teaching Note: The Bake-Off Playwriting Activity”: Teaching Entrepreneurship: A Practice-Based Approach, Volume II. Edward Elger Publishing, Inc..
  • Wynstra, C.B. (2015). “Arts and the Entrepreneur: The Sorenson Center for the Arts”: “Arts and the Entrepreneur: The Sorenson Center for the Arts”. Emerald Group Publishing.
  • Wynstra, C.B. (2012). Critical Lens: A Rhetorical Approach to O’Neill’s Early Wife Characters: Critical Insights: Eugene O'Neill. Salem Press.

Book Reviews

  • Wynstra, C.B. (in press). The Cambridge Companion to American Theatre Since 1945: Theatre Annual.
  • Wynstra, C.B. (in press). Staging America: The Artistic Legacy of the Provincetown Players: Comparative Drama.

Other

  • Wynstra, C.B. (in press). The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window: Theatre Journal. Johns Hopkins University Press.
  • Wynstra, C.B. (2020). Treasure Island.: Theatre Journal. Vol: 72, Issue: 3. Johns Hopkins University Press.
  • Wynstra, C.B. (2018). "Anna Christie.": Eugene O'Neill Review. Vol: 39, Issue: 2. Pennsylvania State University Press.
  • Wynstra, C.B. (2018). Long Day's Journey into Night.: Theatre Journal. Vol: 70, Issue: 2. Johns Hopkins University Press.
  • Wynstra, C.B. (2015). The Second Girl.: Eugene O'Neill Review. Vol: 36. Penn State University Press.
  • Wynstra, C.B. (2012). Long Day's Journey into Night.: Eugene O'Neill Review. Vol: 33, Issue: 2, Page: 309-312. Penn State University Press.

Presentations

  • “Extending the Autobiography: Performers and Good Wives In and Out of O’Neill’s Works” Wynstra, C. Eugene O'Neill International Conference, Suffolk University, Boston (2022)
  • "O'Neill's More Optimistic Tendencies in Ah, Wilderness!" Wynstra, C. Scholar Discussion, Hartford, Connecticut (2021)
  • "Discussion with the Director and Dramaturg" Wynstra, C. Beyond the Horizon: Virtual Sneak Peek, Virtual presentation (2021)
  • Drama! Incorporating theater in entrepreneurship education Balachandra, L. Bal, A. Gartner, W. McAdam, M. Ellborg, K. Radu-Lefebre, M. Wynstra, C. USASBE, Virtual (2021)
  • Panelist, Interdisciplinary Research at Babson College Nersessian, D. Beitelspacher, L. Wynstra, C. Pachamanova, D. Babson College Research Day, Wellesley, MA (2020)
  • "Depictions of Marriage in the Plays of Eugene O'Neill" Wynstra, C. The Eugene O’Neill International Festival of Theater, New Ross, Ireland (2019)
  • Facing Hard Conversations & Challenges in the Classroom Rourke, K. Wynstra, C. Dhebar, A. Inspire Studio 2019, Newport, RI (2019)
  • "The Diction of Globally Competent Students: Helping Learners Recognize and Revise Exclusionary Language" Rourke, K. Wynstra, C. Lilly Conference on Evidence-Based Teaching and Learning, Austin, TX (2019)
  • “‘The Old Ways Are Dying and A New World is Rising As They Fall’: The American Worker and the San Francisco Mime Troupe's Dramaturgy of Nostalgia.” Wynstra, C. American Society for Theater Research Forum, La Jolla, California (2018)
  • “Pedagogy of Place: Strategies for Putting the City on the Syllabus.” Wynstra, C. Schmitz, P. Lilly Conference on Designing Effective Teaching, Bethesda (2018)
  • "Feminist or Misogynist: Eugene O'Neill and 'Anna Christie'" Wynstra, C. Lyric Stage Company of Boston, Boston, MA (2018)
  • "Performing Immigration" Wynstra, C. Orchard Cove Lifelong Learning Series, Canton, Massachusetts (2018)
  • "'I Can Always Twist Him Round My Finger': Calculated Love and Fallen Women in the Plays of Eugene O'Neill" Wynstra, C. Eugene O'Neill International Conference, National University of Ireland, Galway (2017)
  • "This Is Not a Lecture: The Rewards of Student-Generated Productions." Wynstra, C. Rourke, K. Lilly Conference on Evidence-Based Teaching and Learning, Austin, Texas (2017)
  • A Normal Day, Rita's Way: Film Screening and Facilitated Discussion Rourke, K. Wynstra, C. Babson New Student Orientation 2016, Babson Park, MA (2016)
  • "Eugene O'Neill: Inside and Outside the Classroom" Wynstra, C. Comparative Drama Conference, Baltimore, Maryland (2016)
  • Everything You See Here is True Rourke, K. Wynstra, C. CWEL Coffee for Faculty and Administration, Babson Park, MA (2016)
  • "The Second Girl and Its Connections to O'Neill's Long Day's Journey into Night" Wynstra, C. The Humanities Forum, Boston, Massachusetts (2015)
  • "‘Then Nothing Would Ever Have Happened’: Mary Tyrones Memories and the Rehearsal of Nostalgia in O’Neill’s Marriage Plays" Wynstra, C. Ninth International Conference on Eugene O’Neill, New London, Connecticut (2014)
  • “I Must Be a Mere Protective Animal”: The Modern Marriage in the Works of the Provincetown Players Wynstra, C. Inaugural International Conference of the Société d’Etudes Modernistes, Paris, France (2014)
  • Principles for Growing Equity in the Classroom Rourke, K. Wynstra, C. Babson New Faculty Development Workshop, Babson Park, MA (2013)
  • "From Melodrama to Modern Drama" Wynstra, C. National Playwrights Conference, New London, CT (2013)
  • "'We're Just Going to Be So Happy, Aren't We Dear?': Approaching Engagements in the Marriage Plays of Eugene O'Neill" Wynstra, C. American Literature Association Conference, Boston, MA (2013)
  • "Exorcism and its Foreshadowing on Long Day's Journey into Night" Wynstra, C. National Playwrights Conference, New London, CT (2012)
  • "The Rhetoric of Revival: Understanding How The Normal Heart Continues to Beat" Wynstra, C. The Comparative Drama Conference, Baltimore, MD (2012)
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Additional Links

Department & College Wide Services

  • Inspire Studio (Fall 2019 - Present)
  • Artistic Director, The Empty Space Theater (Fall 2012 - Present)
  • Committee on Faculty Teaching Effectiveness and Assessment (COFTEA) (Fall 2021 - Spring 2022)