Kirt Shineman, M.F.A., M.A.

Biography

GCC faculty receives prestigious Golden Monograph Award-- It's one of the highest honors the National Communication Association (NCA) offers each year. And this year, GCC humanities faculty, Kirt Shineman will be the recipient in November. The residential faculty member has been at GCC since 1994, bringing home awards for his theatrical productions and other writings. But this year, he's reached the top.

NCA is the single largest Communication Association in the U.S. and its coveted annual Golden Anniversary Monograph is awarded to the "most outstanding scholarly monographs published during the previous calendar year." Monographs a detailed, written study of a single specialized subject. Occasionally, the NCA has awarded multiple Golden Monographs Awards, but not this year. As an NCA award recipient, he is now part of a venerable group of scholars and educators, including several from prestigious universities.

Shineman's award-winning essay, En/Gendering dystopia: the performance of torture at Guantanamo Bay prison was published in Text and Performance Quarterly, last year. Its premise is to explore the role of sexuality and torture. Shineman worked closely with the Department of Defense, through FOIA, to get much of the information.

The essay's abstract captures the monologue: In post 9-11 era, the war on terrorism hastened the questionable practice of detaining alleged terrorists in confinement sites such as Guantanamo Bay. These mainly Muslim male detainees underwent interrogation by female agents with the intent to inflict suffering to gain covert information. Female agents used torture tactics by exploiting their sexuality, showing gender-specific undergarments, menstrual blood, and sexualized body taunts, all in opposition to detainees' Islamic beliefs as interpreted by the Qur'an. This essay explores the role of sexuality and torture as a performance strategy arguing that such practices move the U.S. closer to a dystopian society.

"Honestly, I am flabbergasted and deeply humbled. Just to find the time to publish, the process of publication of my ideas, was an honor, and this award is beyond my wildest dreams," said Shineman.

Oh did you know that Kirt was also a famous playwright? Great Plains Theatre Conference (The Pornographer), O'Neill National Play Conference (Good Grief- semi-finalist, Forbidden Glass- semi-finalist, Germs and Viruses- semi-finalist), Athena Theater (Good Grief), TheaterWorks Westival New Play Festival (Benkelman and Junction Creek), The Hormel New Works Fest (Cloning Peter), and is a Kennedy Center ACTF National and Regional Finalist (various plays). Shineman's work is published (Allie Opp's Last Fantastic Day) and available on the NPX (New Play Exchange). As a dramaturg he's worked with playwrights such as Philip Dawkins, Michael Barnard, and Y York. He is a Dramatist Guild and LMDA member.

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