Benjamin Gillespie
Lecturer Doc Sch
Weissman School of Arts and Sciences
Department: Communication Studies
Areas of expertise: Age Studies, Communication Studies, Dramatic Literature, Gender and Sexuality Studies, Queer Studies, Theatre and Performance Studies
Email Address: BENJAMIN.GILLESPIE@BARUCH.CUNY.EDU
> View CV- Biography
- Teaching
- Research and Creative Activity
- Grants
- Honors and Awards
- Service
Benjamin Gillespie (PhD) is a Lecturer in the Department of Communication Studies at Baruch College. He earned his doctorate in Theatre and Performance from The Graduate Center, CUNY in 2022. He was awarded the 2022 Monette-Horwitz Prize for the Best Dissertation in LGBTQ Studies from CLAGS: Center for LGBTQ Studies. Benjamin has taught theatre and communication for over a decade. He specializes in modern and contemporary theatre and intercultural performance across the U.S., Canada, and UK with a focus on intergenerational exchange in queer communities, aging subjectivites, and gender and sexuality as/in performance. He is currently at work editing a critical anthology of the later works of the internationally renowned lesbian-feminist performance troupe Split Britches based on his dissertation. He is also editing a collection called Late Stage: Theatrical Perspectives on Age and Aging to be published by the University of Michigan Press. His articles and reviews have been published in Theatre Journal, Theatre Survey, Theatre Topics, Performance Research, Modern Drama, PAJ, Theatre Research in Canada, Canadian Theatre Review and in a number of published anthologies.
Education
Ph.D., Theatre and Performance, The Graduate Center, CUNY New York United States
M.Phil., Theatre and Performance, The Graduate Center, CUNY New York United States
M.A., Theatre, York University Toronto Canada
B.A., Theatre and English, York University Toronto Canada
| Semester | Course Prefix | Course Number | Course Name |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fall 2023 | WSM | 4900 | Topics in Women's Studies |
| Fall 2023 | COM | 3021H | Hon: Professional Speech Comm |
| Fall 2023 | FYS | 1000 | Freshman Seminar |
| Fall 2023 | COM | 4101 | Selected Topics |
| Fall 2023 | FYS | 1000 | Freshman Seminar |
| Fall 2023 | COM | 3021 | Professional Speech Comm |
| Fall 2023 | COM | 3021 | Professional Speech Comm |
| Fall 2023 | COM | 3021H | Hon: Professional Speech Comm |
| Fall 2023 | FYS | 1000 | Freshman Seminar |
| Summer 2023 | COM | 3082 | Gender Communication |
| Spring 2023 | COM | 2020H | Hon: Intro to Business Communi |
| Spring 2023 | COM | 3082 | Gender Communication |
| Spring 2023 | COM | 2020 | Introduction to Business Com |
| Spring 2023 | COM | 2020 | Introduction to Business Com |
| Spring 2023 | IDC | 3001H | Honors - The People of NYC |
| Fall 2022 | COM | 3021 | Professional Speech Communicat |
| Fall 2022 | COM | 3021 | Professional Speech Communicat |
| Fall 2022 | COM | 2020 | Introduction to Business Com |
| Fall 2022 | COM | 2020 | Introduction to Business Com |
| Fall 2022 | COM | 2020 | Introduction to Business Com |
| Summer 2022 | COM | 2020 | Introduction to Business Com |
| Spring 2022 | COM | 3021 | Professional Speech Communicat |
| Spring 2022 | COM | 3021 | Professional Speech Communicat |
Books
Gillespie, B. (2023). Late Stage: Theatrical Perspectives on Age and Aging. Ann Arbor, Michigan, University of Michigan Press. In Progress.
Gillespie, B. (2023). Staging RetroPerspectives: The Later Works of Split Britches. Ann Arbor, Michigan, University of Michigan Press. In Progress.
Journal Articles
(2022). A Roundtable Conversation on the State of Hiring and Labour in Theatre and Performance Studies in Canada. Canadian Theatre Review, (189).
(2022). Power to the Pause: A Pandemic Conversation with Jess Dobkin. Canadian Theatre Review, (188).
(2020). Global Voices in the Time of Coronavirus. PAJ: A Journal of Performance and Art, (43.3).
(2019). Detonating Desire: Mining the Untapped Potential of Ageing in Split Britches’ Unexploded Ordnances (UXO). Performance Research, (27.4).
(2015). Virtuosic Laboring: Queer Embodiment and Administrative Violence at the Canadian/U.S. Border. Canadian Theatre Review, 161.
(2012). Giving us ‘Everything She’s Got’: Processing the Script as Archive in Jess Dobkin’s Queer Performance Art. Canadian Theatre Review, 149.
Gillespie, B. Interview: Between Desire and Despair. 360 Magazine,
Gillespie, B., & Rowen, B. Against Chronology: Queer Intergenerational Approaches to Pedagogy in Theatre History and Performance Studies. Theatre Topics, 30.2.
David Byrne and the Utopian Imagination. PAJ: A Journal of Performance and Art, (43.3).
Book Chapters
(2024). Ruff Around the Edges: Queering Age and Memory/Loss in Peggy Shaw’s Ruff. Late Stage: Theatrical Perspectives on Age and Aging Ann Arbor, Michigan. University of Michigan.
Gillespie, B. (2024). Lois Weaver, Split Britches, and the Making of a Lesbian-Feminist Theatre. Milestones in US Feminist Theatre Routledge.
Gillespie, B. (2024). The Queer Scene Off-Off Broadway. Milestones in Queer US Performance Routledge.
Gillespie, B. (2023). Exercising Care: The Performance Protocols of Lois Weaver. In Gainor, J., & Burroughs, C. (Eds.), Women’s Theatre Theory and Dramatic Criticism London and New York. Routledge.
Gillespie, B. (2023). Split Britches and the Camp Absurd. In Bennett, M. (Ed.), The Routledge Companion to Absurdist Literature London and New York. Routledge. In Progress.
Gillespie, B. (2023). Queer Legacies: The Ridiculous Theatrical Company and Split Britches. In Halferty, J. P., & Leeney, C. (Eds.), Analyzing Gender and Performance London. Palgrave Macmillan Springer.
Gillespie, B. (2015). "Everything’s Breakable," or What I Learned from Lois Weaver. In Weaver, L., & Harvie, J. (Eds.), The Only Way Home is Through the Show: The Performance Work of Lois Weaver Bristol, UK. Intellect.
Gillespie, B. (2014). Que(e)rying Theatrical Objects. In Schweitzer, M., & Zerdy, J. (Eds.), Performing Objects and Theatrical Things New York. Palgrave Macmillan.
Gillespie, B. (2011). Performing the Prosthetics of Femininity: Nina Arsenault’s Transsexual Body as a Living Art Object. In Rudakoff, J. (Ed.), TRANS(per)FORMING Nina Arsenault: An Unreasonable Body of Work Bristol, UK. Intellect.
Conference Proceedings
Gillespie, B. (2023). Queer Archival Praxis.
Gillespie, B. (2023). Tracing Queer Legacies: Performing Hope across Past, Present, and Future.
Gillespie, B. (2023). Tennessee Williams and the Queer Avant Garde.
Gillespie, B. (2023). Lois Weaver’s What Tammy Needs to Know.
Gillespie, B. (2022). Transfeminisms .
Gillespie, B. Weaving Acts of Care: Staging Age and Sexuality in the Performance Work of Lois Weaver.
Presentations
Gillespie, B. Moderator, Orpheus Descending Talkback, Theatre for a New Audience. Brooklyn, NY: Theatre for a New Audience.
Other Scholarly Works
Gillespie, B. (2021). Editor, Special Issue on “Age and Performance: Expanding Intersectionality" . Theatre Research in Canada. 42.2.
Reviews
Gillespie, B. (1970,January 1). Review of The Taylor Mac Book . Theatre Journal.
Gillespie, B. (1970,January 1). Review of The Saviour, Irish Reperatory Theatre. Theatre Journal. In Progress.
Gillespie, B. (1970,January 1). We’re Gonna Die by Young Jean Lee (Second Stage Theatre). Theatre Journal.
Gillespie, B. (1970,January 1). Queer and Now: Review of Q2Q: Queer Canadian Theatre and Performance / Q2Q: Queer Canadian Performance Texts. Canadian Theatre Review.
Gillespie, B. (1970,January 1). Death in Silhouette: Review of Mementos Mori by Manual Cinema (Brooklyn Academy of Music Next Wave Festival). PAJ: A Journal of Performance and Art.
Gillespie, B. (1970,January 1). Review of The Theatre opf Caryl Churchill by R. Darren Gobert. Theatre Journal.
Gillespie, B. (1970,January 1). Review of Ruff by Peggy Shaw (La MaMa, New York). Theatre Journal.
Gillespie, B. (1970,January 1). Review of Uncloseting Drama: American Modernism and Queer Performance. Theatre Survey.
Gillespie, B. (1970,January 1). Review of Performing Age in Modern Drama by Valerie Barnes Lipscomb. Modern Drama.
Gillespie, B. (1970,January 1). Review of Learning How to Fall: Art and Culture after September 11th by T. Nikki Cesare. Theatre Research in Canada.
| Title | Funding Agency Sponsor | Start Date | End Date | Awarded Date | Total Funding | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Staging Retro-Perspectives: A Critical Anthology of the Later Works of Split Britches Theatre Company | PSC-CUNY 54 | 07/01/2023 | 06/30/2024 | 04/18/2023 | 3499.48 | Funded - In Progress |
| Honor / Award | Organization Sponsor | Date Received | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| PSC CUNY Grant | 2023-07-01 | ||
| CUNY Academy Conference Travel Award | CUNY | 2023-07-01 | |
| Faculty Research Award | American Theatre and Drama Society | 2023-06-01 | |
| Nomination for Outstanding Teaching Award | Baruch Honors | 2023-05-01 | |
| Weissman Conference Travel Award | 2022-11-02 | ||
| Monette-Horwitz Dissertation Prize | CLAGS: Center for LGBTQ Studies, The GraduateCenter | 2022-09-01 | Award given to the best dissertation in LGBTQ Studies annually at the Graduate Center, CUNY. |
| NYU Tisch Adjunct Faculty Research Award | NYU Tisch School of the Arts | 2022-04-01 | Monetary award given to adjunct faculty for research. |
University
| Committee Name | Position Role | Start Date | End Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weissman DEI Alliance | Committee Member | 9/15/2022 | Present |
| FYS Instructor | Faculty Advisor | 8/28/2023 | Present |
| Baruch Honors Admissions Committee | Committee Member | 3/15/2023 | Present |
| Search Committee, Communication Studies | Committee Member | 11/1/2022 | Present |
Professional
| Organization | Position Role | Organization State | Organization Country | Start Date | End Date | Audience |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PAJ: A Journal of Performance and Art | Editor, Journal Editor | 12/1/2016 | Present | International | ||
| Journal of American Drama and Theatre | Editor, Journal Editor | 8/1/2023 | Present | International |
Public
| Organization | Position Role | Organization State | Organization Country | Start Date | End Date | Audience |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Communication Studies Curriculum Committee | Committee Member | New York | United States | Present | Local | |
| Weissman DEI Alliance | Committee Member | New York | United States | Present | Local | |
| Women's and Gender Studies Program Executive Committee | Committee Member | Present | Local |