Creativity, the Arts, and Social Transformation Program (CAST)

Andrea Lyman is currently the New England Local President of SAG-AFTRA, she serves on the Roxbury International Film Festival board and is a Co-Director of the Actors Forum of the Secret Society Of Black Creatives. She is an actor and singer. She cannot mention roles in films and television shows because of the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike against the AMPTP. She can however mention films that were done under other contracts such as PLUS 1’s which is currently touring film festivals and the docudrama about Negro Election Day which this year became an official state holiday. She plays Phyllis, the wife of King Pompey, the first elected King of Election Day. She plays a mom in the upcoming Purple Magnet Productions (an all female production company)  feature film, UGLY SWEATER. Andrea has been busy with SAG-AFTRA strike activities. She also works as a singer with her solo cabaret style show, BROADWAY LADY.

Tom Kemp is a character actor who’s played everything from gangsters and doctors to millionaires and everything in between. He has appeared in many TV series including “Brotherhood”, “Boardwalk Empire”, “Blue Bloods", “Rubicon”, “The Strain” and “House of Cards”. He’s worked extensively in film for directors including; Martin Scorcese, Clint Eastwood, Oliver Stone, Martin Campbell, Barry Levinson, Ben Affleck, and Greta Gerwig. Tom holds a BA in Theater from Northeastern University and is serving as the Actor/Performer Vice President of the New England Local. Tom is currently the Vice Chair of the National TV/Theatrical Negotiating Committee.

A cultural historian with a special interest in Hollywood cinema, Thomas Doherty is a professor of American Studies at Brandeis University. He is also the film review editor for the Journal of American History. His books include Show Trial: Hollywood, HUAC, and the Birth of the Blacklist (2018), and Little Lindy Is Kidnapped: How the Media Covered the Crime of the Century (2020). He is currently working on a book about the rise of the archival documentary in 1930s America. He lives with his wife Sandra in Salem, Massachusetts, and he strongly suggests you do not visit there in October.

Dan Breen is Professor of the Practice of Legal Studies at Brandeis, and is enjoying his tenth year as a full-time faculty member. He is currently working on a book about the stories behind the public monuments of Boston.

Cameron Anderson is an internationally acclaimed scenic and projection designer and has designed extensively at the world's leading theatre and opera companies. Recent projects include popstar Charlie Puth's North American Tour, the world premiere opera RUR: A Torrent of Light (Tapestry Opera, Toronto), which won the Best New Opera in North America award, and projects at the Kennedy Center, The Huntington Theater, and The Manhattan Theater Club in New York City. She is currently the Chair of Brandeis's Theater Arts Department and a member of Local 829, The United Scenic Artists Union.

Sabine von Mering, Ph.D., is director of the Center for German and European Studies (CGES) and Professor of German and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Brandeis University. She is a member of the program faculty in the Environmental Studies Program and an affiliate with the Minor in Creative Arts for Social Transformation (CAST).