Jayna Gearhart Fitzsimmons, M.A.
Instructor of Theatre
Theatre Department
Education
M.A. in Theatre, University of South Dakota; B.A. in Theatre Arts, 2007, Southwest Minnesota State University
Biography
Jayna Gearhart Fitzsimmons has been a full-time faculty member in the theatre department at Augustana University since 2010, where she directs productions and teaches coursework in acting, theatre history and literature, new play development, improvisation and theatre for social change. Fitzsimmons also teaches a global studies course that explores performance in Central and Eastern Europe, and is the faculty advisor to the Gender and Sexuality Alliance (GSA). She earned a B.A. in theatre arts from Southwest Minnesota State University (SMSU), an M.A. in theatre with emphases in theatre history and literature, directing, acting and Elizabethan drama from the University of South Dakota (USD), and is currently a doctoral candidate at USD specializing in the intersection of metatheatre and theatre for social change in 20th and 21st century drama. Fitzsimmons' directing work has received regional honors from the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival (KCACTF), and she currently serves as the KCACTF ASPIRE Arts Leadership coordinator for Region 5. As a director, Fitzsimmons frequently collaborates with playwrights to develop new work, and she partners with the Dakota Academy of Performing Arts' youth Shakespeare and Plays for Living programs. She is also the producing artistic director of Bare Bodkins Theatre Company, a professional, original practice Shakespeare company based in Sioux Falls.
