Lynn Kremer, professor of theatre at the College of the Holy Cross, has been named the Rev. John E. Brooks, S.J., Chair in the Humanities. This rotating position is awarded to Holy Cross faculty for a term of three years and recognizes a professor in the humanities for his/her achievements.
The chair is named in honor of the late Rev. John E. Brooks, S.J., former president of Holy Cross, who initiated the beginning of coeducation, a strong commitment to athletics, the professionalization of the teaching faculty, and a growth in endowment to pay for the advances.
“When I first came to the College, it was Fr. Brooks who hired me,” said Kremer. “I admired and adored him, so it is quite an honor to hold a chairship in his name. I am extremely flattered to follow an impressive line of Brooks chairs.”
During her tenure as chair, Kremer will play a role in the execution of the recently awarded Mellon Foundation grant for recentering the arts at Holy Cross. She hopes to bridge the work she will do through the Mellon grant with her work as Brooks chair.
“My recent production work is in devised theatre, which means I choose an area to explore, research the topic, draft a script, and with the aid of students and colleagues invent a new piece,” said Kremer. “I will devise a new piece for Fenwick Theatre this spring based on the relationship of Charles Dodgson (better known as Lewis Carroll) and Alice, his dreamchild. I am confident that the work of the artists we will bring to Holy Cross through the Mellon grant will excite and enrich campus life as well as inform my own work.”
Kremer earned a B.A. in German and a B.F.A. in acting from the University of Minnesota, and an M.F.A. at Brandeis University before joining the faculty at Holy Cross in 1983. She was promoted to associate professor in 1989, to professor in 1997, and chaired her department from 1990 through 2005. The research she has conducted around the globe, but especially in Southeast Asia, informs her creative works; these in turn take form on the Fenwick Theatre stage, frequently moving on to tour other venues nationally and internationally. Her most recent show 'Shackled Spirits,' devised and performed in 2012 in Fenwick Theatre, returned in July 2013 from an extremely successful run at the 35th Bali Arts Festival, a tour which included students, faculty, and alumni. Finally, Kremer accepts invitations to discuss her challenging creative and pedagogical process with audiences from Columbia University to Singapore to Bali.
Kremer has brought visiting artists to Mount St. James with grants from the Fulbright Commission and the Luce Foundation; won the 2007-08 Moss Hart Award for her production of “My Life with Albertine;” earned back-to-back research support grants from the National Endowment for the Arts in 1992-1993 and 1993-1994; was instrumental in bringing a suite of gamelan instruments to Holy Cross; and been elected to consecutive three-year terms on the Board of the National Association of Schools of Theatre.
Kremer, who lives in Princeton, Mass., began her tenure as Brooks Chair in the Humanities on July 1.
Lynn Kremer Begins Tenure as Brooks Chair in the Humanities
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