LENG-223
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Gretchen Shae
Position
Assistant Professor
Affiliated Departments
Faculty Bio E-Mail
Telephone
617-747-6563
Personal Websites
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Gretchen Shae teaches writing in Berklee's Liberal Arts and Sciences Department. In addition to teaching, she also enjoys performing, writing songs, and singing with her band Gretchen Shae and the Middle Eight, and she also fronts Gretchen and the Banshees (a Siouxsie and the Banshees tribute band). In 2014, she performed with U2 at TD Bank Garden. Boston's WZLX named her song “Dionysius” one of its top 10 local picks of the year.
Another passion of Shae's is working as a board member with New Beginnings Reentry Services, a nonprofit organization that partners with community agencies to empower and provide supportive services to formerly incarcerated women and help them successfully rejoin their communities. She teaches a course at Berklee, LENS: Mass Incarceration, that combines her passion to end mass incarceration, educate others, and inspire artists to create thoughtful works in response to this topic. She received a Berklee Urban Service Award for her work in 2019.
Career Highlights
- Performances with U2, the Smithereens, Cherie Currie (the Runaways), Powerman 5000, and Wayne Jayne County
- Instruments include piano and guitar
Awards
- Recipient of Eve Ensler (The Vagina Monologues) grant for New Beginnings Reentry Services
- Recipient of the Presidential Arts Award for creative writing
- Berklee Urban Service Award recipient (2019)
- Recipient of the Presidential Arts Scholarship
Education
- M.A., University of Massachusetts Boston, English with a concentration in Irish literature
- B.A., Salem State University, English with a theater minor
In Their Own Words