about dr. freitag
Jenn Freitag, Ph.D. is an educator, community activist, scholar, and performance artist committed to ending gender violence. Originally from southeast Iowa, she currently resides Dayton, OH. View her professional website here.
Dr. Freitag has been involved in anti-oppression and gender violence prevention education work for fifteen years. She is a former member and director of the SAVE (Students Against a Violent Environment) Forum Actors program at the University of Northern Iowa and founder of The Current peer theatre troupe at the University of Central Missouri. She also spent four years working as a Prevention Educator for the Rape Crisis Services program of The Women's Center, Inc. in Carbondale, IL.
Dr. Freitag has also been a member of the Pedagogy and Theatre of the Oppressed (PTO) international organization for over a decade. Based on the work of Paulo Freire and Augusto Boal, PTO supports people around the world doing artistic and educational work to foster critical thinking and social justice. Dr. Freitag became the editor of the Pedagogy and Theatre of the Oppressed Journal in 2015.
Dr. Freitag has been involved in anti-oppression and gender violence prevention education work for fifteen years. She is a former member and director of the SAVE (Students Against a Violent Environment) Forum Actors program at the University of Northern Iowa and founder of The Current peer theatre troupe at the University of Central Missouri. She also spent four years working as a Prevention Educator for the Rape Crisis Services program of The Women's Center, Inc. in Carbondale, IL.
Dr. Freitag has also been a member of the Pedagogy and Theatre of the Oppressed (PTO) international organization for over a decade. Based on the work of Paulo Freire and Augusto Boal, PTO supports people around the world doing artistic and educational work to foster critical thinking and social justice. Dr. Freitag became the editor of the Pedagogy and Theatre of the Oppressed Journal in 2015.
public education
As a part of her work with local crisis centers, Dr. Freitag has worked to create dialogue around a number of gender violence-related topics in the campus and community. As a prevention educator in Southern Illinois, she provided over 1,000 hours of public education, training, advocacy, and other services to the Southern Illinois region. She provided diversity and anti-oppression trainings for crisis center staff and other community groups, issue-specific trainings for social service agencies and places of employment, and dialogue sessions for university classes. She is an advocate for LGBTIQA issues and intervening in oppression related to gender identity, race, class, ability, and other identities. Dr. Freitag regularly incorporates interactive performance techniques into her work, and she often uses popular culture to engage her audiences in meaningful dialogue. Together with Megan-Jones Williams, she developed "Dialoguing Pop Culture: Facilitating Critical Consciousness for Gender Violence Prevention" which was presented at the National Sexual Assault Conference in August 2012.
published scholarship & performance work
Dr. Freitag's research interests include performance studies, critical communication pedagogy, feminist rhetorical criticism, and gender/sexuality studies.
Publications
Freitag, Jennifer L. "Performing Risk, Catharsis, and Subversion in At the Mercy of Ruin." Text and Performance Quarterly (2015). View the online version here.
Freitag, Jennifer L. "Dialoguing Adrienne: A Writing-and-Performing Story." Texas Speech Communication Journal 37.1 (2013). Print.
Freitag, Jennifer L. "Exploring Cultural Perceptions of Beauty: An Interview with Jennifer L. Freitag." English 102 Reader: Southern Illinois University. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2012. 392-400. Print. (Recorded and edited interview).
Freitag, Jennifer L. "Daddy's Little Girl: A Provocative Feminist Critique of Purity Balls." Kaleidoscope: A Graduate Journal of Qualitative Research (Fall 2011). Print. Read it here.
Mitchell, Karen S., and Jennifer L. Freitag. “Forum Theatre for Bystanders: A New Model for Gender Violence Prevention." Violence Against Women 17 (2011): 990-1013. Print. View the abstract here.
Freitag, Jennifer L., Danielle Dick McGeough, Aubrey Huber, and Karen S. Mitchell. “The Boalian Communication Classroom: A Conversation about the Body, Dialogue, and Social Transformation.” “Come Closer”: Critical Perspectives on Theatre of the Oppressed. Ed. Toby Emert and Ellie Friedland. NY: Peter Lang, 2011. Print. Learn more about the book here.
Freitag, Jennifer L. “Bible Beater/Bra Burner.” Liminalities: A Journal of Performance Studies 4.2 (2008). Web. View the script and images of the show here.
Freitag, Jennifer L. “The Process and Impact of Ethnodrama: Reflections on Bible Beater/Bra Burner.” Journal of the Speech and Theatre Association of Missouri 37 (2007): 6-34. Print.
Freitag, Jennifer L. “Adolescence.” Lyrical Iowa 2005. Ed. Lucille Morgan Wilson. Berrien Springs, MI: Andrews U, 2005. Print.
Work in Performance & Pedagogy
Dr. Freitag recently performed in the University of Dayton Theatre Program's mainstage production of Irreconcilable: Faith and Reason.
During her time in Carbondale, Dr. Freitag was involved in a variety of performance projects in the Marion Kleinau Theatre at Southern Illinois University including The Amnesiac's Diary, The Penelopiad, Tending the Crocodile, Cybernetic Fruit, and At the Mercy of Ruin. She also co-directed The Vagina Monologues twice and was lead organizer for the V-Week campaign at Southern Illinois University for three years.
Dr. Freitag worked with The Interpreters Theatre at the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls as a publicist and production assistant. She participated in several productions including Dead Man Walking, beat: a play on words, and Telling My Way Home. She also wrote and directed an original production in 2006 called Bible Beater/Bra Burner that explored the Christian and feminist identities of fifteen women in eastern Iowa. This artistic interpretation of women’s perspectives included those on faith, motherhood, relationships, politics, homosexuality, choice, and freedom within and without the church institution. Bible Beater/Bra Burner asked probing questions about what it means for a woman to claim – or reject – a Christian, feminist, or Christian-feminist identity through music, poetry, and creative theatre techniques.
Publications
Freitag, Jennifer L. "Performing Risk, Catharsis, and Subversion in At the Mercy of Ruin." Text and Performance Quarterly (2015). View the online version here.
Freitag, Jennifer L. "Dialoguing Adrienne: A Writing-and-Performing Story." Texas Speech Communication Journal 37.1 (2013). Print.
Freitag, Jennifer L. "Exploring Cultural Perceptions of Beauty: An Interview with Jennifer L. Freitag." English 102 Reader: Southern Illinois University. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2012. 392-400. Print. (Recorded and edited interview).
Freitag, Jennifer L. "Daddy's Little Girl: A Provocative Feminist Critique of Purity Balls." Kaleidoscope: A Graduate Journal of Qualitative Research (Fall 2011). Print. Read it here.
Mitchell, Karen S., and Jennifer L. Freitag. “Forum Theatre for Bystanders: A New Model for Gender Violence Prevention." Violence Against Women 17 (2011): 990-1013. Print. View the abstract here.
Freitag, Jennifer L., Danielle Dick McGeough, Aubrey Huber, and Karen S. Mitchell. “The Boalian Communication Classroom: A Conversation about the Body, Dialogue, and Social Transformation.” “Come Closer”: Critical Perspectives on Theatre of the Oppressed. Ed. Toby Emert and Ellie Friedland. NY: Peter Lang, 2011. Print. Learn more about the book here.
Freitag, Jennifer L. “Bible Beater/Bra Burner.” Liminalities: A Journal of Performance Studies 4.2 (2008). Web. View the script and images of the show here.
Freitag, Jennifer L. “The Process and Impact of Ethnodrama: Reflections on Bible Beater/Bra Burner.” Journal of the Speech and Theatre Association of Missouri 37 (2007): 6-34. Print.
Freitag, Jennifer L. “Adolescence.” Lyrical Iowa 2005. Ed. Lucille Morgan Wilson. Berrien Springs, MI: Andrews U, 2005. Print.
Work in Performance & Pedagogy
Dr. Freitag recently performed in the University of Dayton Theatre Program's mainstage production of Irreconcilable: Faith and Reason.
During her time in Carbondale, Dr. Freitag was involved in a variety of performance projects in the Marion Kleinau Theatre at Southern Illinois University including The Amnesiac's Diary, The Penelopiad, Tending the Crocodile, Cybernetic Fruit, and At the Mercy of Ruin. She also co-directed The Vagina Monologues twice and was lead organizer for the V-Week campaign at Southern Illinois University for three years.
Dr. Freitag worked with The Interpreters Theatre at the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls as a publicist and production assistant. She participated in several productions including Dead Man Walking, beat: a play on words, and Telling My Way Home. She also wrote and directed an original production in 2006 called Bible Beater/Bra Burner that explored the Christian and feminist identities of fifteen women in eastern Iowa. This artistic interpretation of women’s perspectives included those on faith, motherhood, relationships, politics, homosexuality, choice, and freedom within and without the church institution. Bible Beater/Bra Burner asked probing questions about what it means for a woman to claim – or reject – a Christian, feminist, or Christian-feminist identity through music, poetry, and creative theatre techniques.