Cristina Bejan
FROM:
Born in Boulder, Colorado, I moved to Perth, Australia and then to Durham, North Carolina all by the age of 2. I grew up in Durham. I feel "at home" in Durham (where my parents are), Rockville, MD (where my grandmother lives) and Bucharest.
HEROES:
My parents and grandparents, especially my grandfather William F. Riordan, a tennis promoter and manager. His quotes: "The ball takes funny bounces." and "Whatever you do, make a contribution."
Dan and Lia Perjovschi, internationally renowned Romanian visual and performance artists, and dissident artists under the communist regime. Quotes: "Artists are sensible humanists. Our statements should be heard outside the art world." - Dan; and "We are creative when we are informed." - Lia.
PROUDEST ACCOMPLISHMENT:
My theatre work in Romania.
SOMETHING YOU MIGHT TEACH AT THE SUMMIT:
I have been thinking a lot lately of why I write theatrical plays and will speak briefly on this topic and then run a creative workshop. The theme will be 'finding your inner artist': writing and performing as a tool to improving self-awareness and also as a path to discovering other elements and dimensions of existence.
SOMETHING YOU HOPE TO LEARN AT THE SUMMIT:
I hope to learn from the diverse backgrounds, experiences, dreams for the future and pursuits of the other participants: especially in business and community outreach. I also hope to meet potential collaborators, and hear inspiring stories.
SOMETHING YOU ARE STRUGGLING WITH IN YOUR WORK:
At the moment I am struggling with balancing my academic interests with my creative passions – articulating the narrative in my research whilst harnessing the narratives in my life and channeling them into artistic expression.
SOMETHING THAT MAKES YOU HAPPY:
Art in all forms, friends and conversation over wine, coffee or Romanian dark beer, dancing, singing, exploring, traveling, laughing, creating, long train rides, reading.
SOMETHING THAT MAKES YOU ANGRY:
To be honest, I am not the biggest fan of this question and/or section. I object to the word 'angry' ...something that bothers me, or troubles me rather, is when kindness is confused with weakness.
TELL US ABOUT YOUR FAMILY:
I am honored to be a member of my family. Both my Romanian grandparents were imprisoned by the communist regime in the name of 're-education.' My Danish-American grandmother left her family farm in Colorado to pursue her dream of seeing the rest of her country, coming as a student to DC. My American family embraced my Romanian father and fought to keep him in the US against all odds at the height of the Cold War. My siblings and I were raised to appreciate our heritage, be thankful for the freedoms we are blessed with in the US, and value the importance of education and the doors it opens no matter where and when one may be in the world.
AN IDEA TO MAKE THE 30SUMMIT EVEN BETTER:
If we have some cultural activity that takes us out of the conference "space," such as we go to a museum, a concert or a park, and have the opportunity to talk in this alternative environment.
BIOGRAPHY:
Cristina Bejan is a DPhil (PhD) candidate in Modern History at the University of Oxford. A Rhodes Scholar, Fulbright Scholar and current Research Fellow at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Bejan is writing her dissertation on the cultural group in interwar Bucharest named "Criterion," which included such epic figures as Mircea Eliade, Emil Cioran, and Eugene Ionesco. A playwright, Bejan has written eleven plays, nine of which have appeared in the USA and Europe. She also has worked extensively as an actress (stage and voice-over work), director and dramaturg. Currently, Bejan is developing Romania's first theatre devoted to English language performance and international collaboration, the Platforma Theatre Company. She speaks English, Romanian, German and French, and has beginner's knowledge of Hungarian and Russian. Bejan is a dual-citizen of the USA and the EU (Romania) and a proud graduate of Northwestern University.
