Advanced Topics in Performance Studies: Imagining Anticolonial Performance Practices
THEA 316
Spring 2021
| Section:
01
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| Course Cluster and Certificates: Social, Cultural, and Critical Theory Certificate, Queer Studies, Sustainability and Environmental Justice |
What is the relationship between decolonization and performance? How might we think of performance as a critical and creative resource for the anti-normalization of settler logics and practices, including the private ownership of land and extraction of natural resources for profit? In this course we will approach these questions through the lens of performance studies (an interdisciplinary field focused on the live event and in conversation with anthropology, theater studies, linguistics, critical race studies, psychoanalysis, and queer theory). Grounded in Indigenous studies, this class will use "performance" as both a practice and a lens. We will explore questions including: "What do land, sovereignty, sustainability, and subsistence-based practices have to do with performance?" "What is the colonial history of dominant performance cultures?" "Can, or should, we separate performance from the political in our understanding of theater and performance as merely an aesthetic practice?" With a specific attention to Native North American epistemologies and practices, we will study contemporary Indigenous art and theories in order to imagine performance's potential ability to work toward the disobedience and anti-normalization of settler colonial logics and laws. Student projects will take the shape of semester-long critical research papers. We will read theoretical works by Patrick Wolfe, Sandra Ruiz, Eve Tuck, J. Kehaulani Kauanui, Linda Tuhiwai Smith, Jolene Rickard, Jodi Byrd, and Stephanie Nohelani Teves and engage artistic works by Nicholas Galanin, Jeffery Gibson, James Luna, Vick Quezada, Emily Johnson, AKU MATU, Muriel Miguel, S.J. Norman, Joseph Pierce, and many others. |
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| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
HA THEA |
| Course Format: Seminar | Grading Mode: Student Option |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: (CSCT)(STS)(THEA) |
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Past Enrollment Probability: 75% - 89% |
| SECTION 01 |
Major Readings: Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore
TBD
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Examinations and Assignments:
Students will work on individual research papers (15-20 pages) throughout the semester. Research topics are due by the end of the first month of classes; a polished draft of the paper (7-10 pages) will serve as the mid-term; additionally, students will give an oral presentation of their research during the final week of classes. Shorter oral presentations are due throughout the course. |
Additional Requirements and/or Comments:
The Theater Department organizes a variety of performances for students enrolled in its courses. Field trips to see performances off campus are integrated into course syllabi. Instructors will notify students of all dates at the beginning of the semester and costs for all course field trips are covered (specifically, transportation to and from the performance and tickets). Any potential scheduling conflicts for field trips should be discussed with faculty members. Once students indicate that they are going and tickets are purchased, it is assumed they will attend. (Students backing out of field trips they had said they would attend will be asked to cover the cost of their ticket.) Performances of visitors to Wesleyan's Center for the Arts are integrated into course syllabi and students are required to attend these performances unless otherwise negotiated with instructors. Tickets for performances are available to students at the Box Office in Usdan at the reduced price of $6.00.
This course fulfills the Religion Department "Thematic Approaches" major requirement.
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| Instructor(s): Brewer Ball,Katie Times: ...W... 01:00PM-03:50PM; Location: ONLINE; |
| Total Enrollment Limit: 12 | | SR major: 4 | JR major: 4 | | |
| Seats Available: 1 | GRAD: X | SR non-major: 2 | JR non-major: 2 | SO: 0 | FR: 0 |
| Drop/Add Enrollment Requests | | | | | |
| Total Submitted Requests: 0 | 1st Ranked: 0 | 2nd Ranked: 0 | 3rd Ranked: 0 | 4th Ranked: 0 | Unranked: 0 |
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