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RESUME

BARBARA BECKWITH

8a Appleton Road

Cambridge, MA 02138

h/w: 617-868-3143

BeckwithB@aol.com

www.BarbaraBeckwith.net

DEGREES:

Master of Science in Print Journalism, Boston University College of Communication

Master of Education, Tufts University

Bachelor of Arts in English Literature, Wellesley College

FREELANCE WRITER: (1970s-present)

BOOKS:

  • Author of essay series, What Was I Thinking? Reflecting on Everyday Racism (2009) and What Was I Thinking? Digging Deeper into Everyday Racism (2013), Questions and Quandaries (2015) distributed by Crandall Dostie and Douglass Books, www.cddbooks.com
  • Co-author, Standing Up to the SAT: The Test-Taker’s Bill of Rights (Prentice-Hall/ARCO, 1989)

ANTHOLOGIES (contributor): (partial list)

  • What Does It Mean to be White in America? “Aha Moments” (2LeafPress, 2016)
  • The Heart of This City: Boston Strong and Becoming Stronger, “White People Challenging Racism” www.theheartofthiscity.org (2014)
  •  Inside the Ropes: Sportswriters Get Their Game On “Tournament Tough” (Bison Books, 2008)
  • Home Anthology, “Wild Home” (Eden Waters Press, 2008)
  • Building Strength Through Diversity, “An Ally’s Point of View” (NWU, 2002)
  • Hot Flashes from Abroad “Nature Buddies” (Seal Press, 2001)
  • Freelancers’ Writers Guide (National Writers Union, 2000)
  • Promising Practices in Teaching for Social Responsibility, “Literature in the Classroom: Pathways to Social Responsibility,”(SUNY, 1993)
  • Perspectives: A Teaching Guide to the Concepts of Peace (Educators for Social Responsibility, 1983)

ONLINE PUBLICATIONS (contributor):

  • White Privilege Conference Journal: “Reconciled to Jargon” (2013) and “In the Face of Resistance – A Lay Facilitator’s Experience” (2014) www.wpcjournal.org
  • Cognoscenti, “Toys Will be Toys: The Trouble with Toy Guns” (2016), “The Stories We Tell Ourselves About the People Who Came Before Us” (2016), “It’s My Job, Not His, To Counter Anti-Semitic Stereotypes” (2015), “What’s Behind the Power of a Stare?” (2015) “Recovering My Blues” (2014), “You Don’t Know What You’ve Got Till It’s Gone” (2014), “The Age of Innocence: When I Didn’t Know What I Didn’t Know About Sex” (2014) “Getting Warmer: When Menopause Came for Me” (2014) “Is Racism Too Entrenched To Be Defeated?” (www.cognoscenti.wbur.org)

MAGAZINE ARTICLES AND ESSAYS (partial list):

  • Ms., “Finding the Children” (on Argentina’s grandmothers of the disappeared)
  • Essence, “ABCs of the SATs” and others
  • Smithsonian, “Quicksand” and others
  • US Air, “Julia Child’s Boston”
  • Columbia Journalism Rev: He Man, She Man: Playboy and Cosmo Groove on Genes
  • Harvard Magazine, “Justice for All” and others
  • Harvard Educational Review, “Tribal Rhythms” (integrating arts into the curriculum)
  • Wellesley Magazine, “From Librettos to the Law”and others
  • The Writing Self, “Copyeditor: The Writer’s Midwife”
  • Body and Soul, “Adventures in Self-Care”
  • Squash Magazine, “Meditating at High Speed” and other articles and essays
  • New Mobility: Disability, Culture and Style, “Carrie Dearborn: A Matter of Control”

ALSO: Media Report to Women, Women and Health, New Age, Yoga Journal, Adirondack Life, Reminisce, Town and Gown

NEWSPAPER ARTICLES (partial list):

  • New York Times, “The Bookworm’s Weekend Retreat” “Hiking in a Tight Spot: A Slot”
  • Washington Post, “From Goya to Gastronomy: Nine Small Museums of Southwest France”
  • Christian Science Monitor,  “At the End of the Year, Teachers Worry About Making the Grade, Too,” and many others
  • Boston Globe “Hospices: Helping the Dying Maintain Their Dignity,” “Down on the Co-op Farm,” “Girls Lower Math Scores Don’t Tell the Whole Story,” “The Art of Critical Thinking,” and many otthers

ALSO:  Los Angeles Times, Baltimore Sun, Oakland Tribune, Cambridge Chronicle, Watertown Tab, Somerville Journal, Metro West

PROGRESSIVE/FEMINIST PUBLICATIONS (partial list):

  • American Writer, “Why Diversity Work is Important: An Ally’s Point of View”
  • Science for the People, “How Magazines Cover Sex Difference Research”
  • Sojourner: The Women’s Journal, “Women and the Primary”
  • Equal Times, “Take Back the Night Forum,” “Working Women”
  • Boston Mobilizer, “Language and Civil Disobedience”
  • Whole Life Times, “Economic Conversion”
  • Index on Censorship “US Feminists Split Over Porn Law”

ALSO: Peaceworks,  Labor Notes, Dollars and Sense

RECENT TALKS,  PANELS, WORKSHOPS,  READINGS, INTERVIEWS

  • 2020 Lifelong Learning Independent Collaborative: zoom talk on “White Privilege”
  • 2018 Women Explore Lecture and Discussion Forum, talk on “Racism: Addressing the White Problem” www.womenexplore.org
  • 2016 White Privilege Symposium at Lesley University (workshop: How To Start an Anti-racism Workshop to Inspire White People to Action)
  • 2016 Brandeis University, Heller School (workshop on being an ally)
  • 2016 Porter Square Books, Cambridge, MA (reading by contributors to What Does It Mean to Be White in America?)
  • 2016 Toadstool Books, Peterborough, NH (reading by contributors to What Does It Mean to Be White in America?)
  • 2014 Women’s Writing Workshop (Boston Public Library/Parker Hill Branch: guest speaker on publishing non-fiction
  • 2014 Willie’s Web (Boston Cable TV) author interview hosted by Willie Pleasants
  • 2014 Grub Street Lit Week, Authors on White Privilege and Racial Identity
  • 2013 Cambridge Science Festival “What Is This About Bloodlines?”
  • 2010 Race and Pedagogy National Conference, Puget Sound U. Workshop on teaching anti-racism
  • 2010 Cambridge Center for Adult Education faculty reading (also in 2009)
  • 2009 Cambridge School of Weston. Panel: on being an ally
  • 2009 First Thursday: Interview Show for Writers (Brookline Cable TV) hosted by Melita Nasca
  • 2008 Cambridge Center for Adult Education, Morning Lecture Series, on speaking up against racism
  • 2008 New Hampshire Writers Day, University of Southern NH. Writing for Love and Money panel
  • 2008 Women Action & Media conference, M.I.T., How to Get Heard: The Art of Strategic Communication with Editors workshop
  • 2008 Graduate seminar, Boston U. College of Communication, on Marketing Your Articles
  • 2007 National Writers Union panel: Publishing Nightmares, Emmanuel Church, Boston
  • 2006 National Writers Union workshop: Shaping and Taping Your Work for Public Radio
  • 2006 Mt. Pocono (PA) civil rights conference. Workshop on “from talk to action”
  • 2004 U.MA/Boston, guest presenter, Sociocultural Perspectives on Education, Prejudice, Discrimination graduate level class:

READINGS:

  • 2013 Cambridge Science Festival, “What IS This About Bloodlines?”
  • 2010 Cambridge Center for Adult Education faculty reading
  • 2009 Cambridge Center for Adult Education faculty reading (host/reader)
  • 2007 McIntyre & Moore Booksellers, Somerville
  • 2006 Bestseller’s Café bookstore, Medford
  • 2006 Squawk Coffeehouse, featured reader

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

  • 2017 (coach), 2019 (co-coach) of Women’s Writing Workshop (Mission Hill)
  • 2001 to present: Co-facilitator of “White People Challenging Racism: Moving From Talk to Action” at Cambridge, Brookline, and other adult education centers
  • 1980-1993 Adjunct Professor of Journalism, Emerson College
  • 1988 Adjunct Professor of Journalism, Suffolk University
  • 1986 Adjunct Professor of Journalism, Framingham State
  • various years: Teacher of freelance writing, travel writing, and essay writing, at the Cambridge Center for Adult Education, other adult education centers, and privately
  • High School English Teacher/Language Arts coordinator, Watertown (MA) and Cambridge (MA) public schools, MA (1971-1981)

ORGANIZING/LEADERSHIP (partial list)

  • National Writers Union Eastern Region VP, Internal Organizing VP, National and Boston Chapter Diversity Committee (various years), Boston Chapter Administrative Director (1988-91), NWU Boston Co-chair (2007-present)
  • PEN New England “Friend to Writers” award (1991) for organizing NWU’s biennial writers’ conferences at the Kennedy School of Government
  • Mentor 20 first-time “White People Challenging Racism” facilitators (2002-present)
  • Community Change Inc. Library on Racism Committee (2004-2007), Gustavus Meyers Awards book reviewer (2006-2008), Drylongso Committee (2009)
  • Series Advisor, annual Writers Life series, Cambridge Center for Adult Education (1999-present)

JOURNALISM/EDITING BACKGROUND (1970s-1980s)

  • Staff Reporter for Brookline Chronicle, covering full range of municipal issues
  • Stringer, Middlesex News, reporting on municipal meetings, plus features
  • Editor, Rough Draft, National Writers Union/Boston Chapter newsletter
  • Editorial Board, Science for the People
  • News Editor, Sojourner: The Women’s Journal