Author

Toni is an educator, memoirist and lesbian feminist critic. She taught literature and Women’s Studies at the University of Minnesota for thirty-seven years. Upon retirement, the University of Minnesota recognized her as a Distinguished Teaching Professor.

McNaron’s critically acclaimed first memoir, I Dwell in Possibility, was published in 1992 as part of the Cross-Cultural Memoir Series from The Feminist Press. She also wrote Poisoned Ivy:  Lesbian and Gay Academics Confront Homophobia (Temple University Press, 1996), a compelling ethnographic study of homophobia in the academy.  She edited  The Sister Bond:  A Feminist View of a Timeless Connection and co-edited Voices in the Night: Women Speaking About Incest and New Lesbian Studies: Into the 21st Century. 

While at the University of Minnesota (1964-2001), McNaron founded and chaired the Women’s Studies Program, the Center for Advanced Feminist Studies, and the GLBT Studies Program. She won four Outstanding Teaching awards and an award for Outstanding Service to the Community. Her interest in women’s spirituality, and more recently lesbian spirituality, has been a lifelong passion.

These days, Toni teaches at the Arboretum, with Zoom classes, and in her living room.

UofMN BFA Director

Steve Cardamone has acted and directed regionally for 30+ years and was a founding member of Shenandoah Shakespeare Express (now the American Shakespeare Center in Staunton, VA), with which he had toured across the US, England, and Scotland for several years as an actor, director, and teacher. He received a BA in English, Theater, and Mass Communications from James Madison University and a MFA from the University of Delaware’s Professional Theater Training Program. He served as an Education Artist / Outreach Coordinator for 'Shaw Chicago' Theater Company and acted in many of their shows. Regional acting and directing credits: Oregon, Idaho, Colorado, Texas, Pennsylvania, and Nebraska Shakespeare Festivals, Montana Shakespeare-in-the-Parks, as well as Nashville Shakespeare, Riverside Theater, Delaware Theater Company, Hope Repertory, Lookingglass, Northlight, and Eclipse Theater. Originally from the Philadelphia area, his passions are text-rich stories, especially those of Shakespeare & Shaw, pizza of all varieties, the Eagles football team, his brilliant wife Georgina and their amazing daughter Zoey. He has been a BFA faculty member at the University of Minnesota since 2005 and is currently the Artistic Director for Dramatic Acting at ArtsBridge.