Career and Scholarship

Eastern Nazarene College 

Theatre for Social Justice major chair, Curriculum Design and Development for TFSJ major, advises and teaches students in 4:4 schedule, Artistic Director, Coordinator of Community Engagement Projects, Oversees and designs space Renovations

South Shore School of Theatre

Founding and Executive Director, Teach and Direct children ages seven to adult, Manages teachers and staff with School Director, Company produces five productions per year, Award Winner for Arts Leadership on the South Shore

 

REsearch and Scholarship

PhD from Tufts University (grad. May 2021) in Theatre and Performance Studies, regular contributor to HowlRound Theatre Commons, professional affiliations with Association for Theatre in Higher Education, American Association for Theatre Educators, and Quincy Arts Council, presentations at Northwestern University, Villanova University, Tufts University, Eastern Nazarene College

 

 

Theatre for Social Justice was designed and implemented at Eastern Nazarene College in 2017 by Tara Brooke Watkins as a way to blend the college's mission of social justice with theatre development. Students engage in a curriculum that focuses on applied theatre skills, production, and foundational theatre knowledge and dramas. They double major and create experimental productions their junior and senior years that address social justice issues through the lens of their second major. Students also work on a community engagement project which culminates in a devised theatre production for the main stage. 

 
 

Tara Brooke Watkins founded South Shore School of Theatre in 2010 in Quincy, MA. It started out as a summer musical theatre program and developed into a year-long acting, tech, dance, and musical theatre training school for students ages seven and up. SSST is home to approximately 150 students. It offers production classes for youth and teens, beginner acting and dancing for adults, leadership opportunities for teens, and internships for college students majoring in theatre. 

 

As part of her contribution to scholarship on race, identity, and sexuality and theatre for social justice, Tara participates regularly in symposiums and task forces that address these topics. She has contributed to conferences on theatre devising, equity in the classroom, sexuality and religion, and histories of race. For an example of a presentation on Inverting Theatre of the Oppressed, please watch this video and scroll to 40:00 for her presentation. (Although her students who present in this segment are also worth watching!)