Carol Schafer, associate professor of theatre, integrative arts and women’s studies at Penn State Beaver, received the Achieving Women Award from the Penn State Commission for Women at a special awards luncheon held Friday, April 10 at Penn State University Park. The award recognizes Penn State women who have shown leadership, supported the University’s diversity and equal opportunity efforts, and contributed to human causes and public service. John Chapin, associate professor of communications at Beaver, nominated Schafer for the award.
Schafer joined Penn State in 1998 and has directed and written numerous theatrical productions in the United States, including plays for Beaver campus and Crisis Center North (CCN) in Pittsburgh, a nonprofit counseling and educational resource center for victims of domestic violence in Allegheny County, where she also volunteers.
In addition, she was featured, along with Chapin, associate professor of communications, in the 2008 fall issue of Penn State Outreach magazine in an article entitled "The Myths and Truths of Domestic Violence" which highlighted research and programs conducted by Schafer and Chapin. Schafer and CCN executive director Grace Coleman wrote "The Other Side of the River," a fictionalized play based on interviews with survivors of assault in the Pittsburgh area. The play was performed at Pittsburgh's Andy Warhol Museum and at the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency's annual Pathways for Victim Services Conference. Last fall Schafer produced and directed three one-act plays at Beaver campus using members of her theatre class. The plays depicted domestic violence and its repercussions in three very different settings
.For more information, contact Schafer at cas33@psu.edu or (724) 773-3591.