Fred Siegel, PhD
Teaching Professor of English
Director, First-Year Writing Program
Department of English and Philosophy
Center for Interdisciplinary Study
Jewish Studies
Education:
- PhD, Performance Studies, New York University, 1993
- MA, Educational Theater, Adelphi University, 1986
- BA, Rhetoric and Communication, Temple University, 1983
Bio:
My scholarly interests include composition, creative nonfiction writing, deception, American popular performance, theater arts, dramatic literature, and horror literature/film. As a performer I have been in six Philadelphia Fringe Festivals and three improv groups, plus I write and perform shows based on my life.
Favorite Authors and/or Books: Plays: The Cherry Orchard (Chekhov), Mother Courage and her Children (Brecht), The Glass Menagerie (Williams), Angels in America (Kushner), How I Learned to Drive (Vogel).
Also, many show business biographies.
Favorite Musical Artists: The Beatles, Frank Loesser, Stephen Sondheim.
Personal Interests and Hobbies: Theater, conjuring, improvisational performance.
A Favorite Quote: “Drama: What literature does at night.”—George Jean Nathan. Also, “They have the same room in heaven that they have in hell.”—The Devil (from an episode of Night Gallery that I saw 35 years ago)
Favorite TV Show: House
One thing that makes me smile is: my sweet spouse.
A Pet Peeve: Card tricks so complicated and long that by the time the magician finds your card you are no longer interested.
One hidden talent is: singing.
One reason I like my job is: my amusing students.
Selected Publications:
- Siegel, Fred. “Trip or Trap.” The 33rd: An Anthology. Eds. Albert DiBartolomeo, Scott Stein, and Kathleen Volk Miller. Philadelphia: Drexel Publishing Group, 2008.
- Siegel, Fred. “Between the O’Neills.” JML 31.3 (2008): 165-170.
- Siegel, Fred. “Performance Studies at CCCC.” Kairos. 2006. 5 May 2007
- Siegel, Fred. “CCCC Wrap-Up—Now You CCCC It, Now You Don’t.” Across the Disciplines: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Language, Learning, and Academic Writing. 2006. 19 April 2006
- "Clown Politics," review of 1991 Movement Theatre International Clown Conference in The Drama Review, Summer 1992. (Republished in anthology Popular Theatre: A Sourcebook, Ed. Joel Schechter. London: Routledge, 2002
- "Theater of Guts--An Exploration of the Sideshow Aesthetic," in The Drama Review, Winter 1991.