The Academy of Civic Life Team
The Academy of Civic Life team is dedicated to improving college access for students from historically underserved and underrepresented backgrounds in Suffolk County. We are passionate about supporting civic engagement through community-led initiatives. We have brought together an interdisciplinary group faculty members and graduate students to make a difference in the lives of the Academy students.
Faculty Director: Dr. Tracey Walters
Dr. Walters teaches the Academy of Civic Life high school summer course (GLI 102)
as well as the associated undergraduate course (GLI 402).
Dr. Walters is Professor of Literature in the Department of Africana Studies at Stony Brook University where she also holds an affiliate appointment with the Institute for Globalization Studies, the Department of English, and Women’s and Gender Studies. She is an interdisciplinary, transcultural scholar of Africana Studies, and writes about the experiences of African diasporic women through the lens of feminist studies and cultural studies. She is a leading scholar of Black British literature and Classica Africana, a subfield of classical studies. Her articles can be found in numerous journals and anthologies. She has published two monographs: African American Women and the Classicists Tradition: Black Women Writers from Wheatley to Morrison (Palgrave, 2007) and Not Your Mother’s Mammy: The Representation of the Domestic in Transatlantic Media (Rutgers Press, 2021), and a reader Today’s Writers and their Works: Zadie Smith (Cavendish Square Publishing, 2012). She also edited Zadie Smith: Critical Essays (Peter Lang, 2008) and was a guest editor for Open Cultural Studies Journal.
Program Director: ELIZABETH BOJSZA
E-Beth leads the administrative efforts for the Academy of Civic Life and supervises
all graduate and undergraduate staff.
Elizabeth Bojsza (she/her) is passionate about community engagement, empowering voices, and asking good questions. Elizabeth began her career teaching high school English before attending graduate school to earn her MFA in theatre. For many years, Elizabeth worked in community performance theatre as a dramaturg and director-- collaborating with communities in the south and northeast US to tell their stories and foster dialogue. She also worked professionally as a literary manager, running the Young Playwrights Inc. national playwriting competition (open to all playwrights in the US 18 and younger) from 2008-2013. Elizabeth is currently a facilitator and curriculum designer for the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science at Stony Brook University and an assistant professor of practice in the School of Communication and Journalism. She finds the skills of analysis and feedback she honed as a theatre artist directly applicable to designing and facilitating communication workshops. As a Suffolk County Human Rights Commissioner, Elizabeth is working to strengthen the SCHRC’s relationship to the youth in our communities and currently serves on the Education Committee and the Administration of Justice Committee.
Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science
Suffolk County Human Rights Commission
PRINCIPLE INVESTIGATOR: Dr. Amy Cook
Dr. Cook ensures that our program is integrated into the wider Stony Brook University
community.
Dr. Cook is a Professor in the English Department and Vice Provost for Academic Affairs. Dr. Cook specializes in the intersection of cognitive science and theatre with particular attention to Shakespeare and contemporary performance. She has published, Building Character: The Art and Science of Casting (University of Michigan Press, 2018), Shakespearean Futures: Casting the Bodies of Tomorrow on Shakespeare's Stages Today (Cambridge 2020), Shakespearean Neuroplay: Reinvigorating the Study of Dramatic Texts and Performance through Cognitive Science (Palgrave Macmillan, 2010), and Theatre, Performance and Cognition: Languages, Bodies and Ecologies (Methuen, 2016), co-edited with Rhonda Blair. She received her Ph.D. from University of California, San Diego (2006), had a postdoc at Emory and accepted a position at Indiana University before coming to Stony Brook.