The Live Event: Politics and Practice of Socially Engaged Performance
THEA 391
Fall 2026
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01
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This course takes as its context the fractured state of our country: at a time when the world is driving us apart, we will investigate artists whose work brings us closer together. From architect Maya Lin, whose interactive Vietnam War Memorial re-wrote the function of a monument to be about personal encounter and shared reckoning, to "Haircuts by Kids," a project of the Canadian theater company Mammalian Diving Reflex, in which third graders are trained to offer haircuts to adults, artists across discipline are positioning performance as a set of relationships to participate in rather than a product to consume, breaking out of privileged spaces to engage with their communities in sites accessible to all. Class structure combines seminar-style discussion with studio-style making; students will generate small performance experiments throughout the semester, supported by critical readings and viewings of work by current practitioners. The class culminates in a final project that responds to a need or conversation currently present within the Wesleyan community, supported by a series of short essays contextualizing the work within course content. |
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| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
HA THEA |
| Course Format: Studio | Grading Mode: Graded |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: None |
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Past Enrollment Probability: Not Available |
| SECTION 01 |
Major Readings: Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore
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Readings pulled from texts including:
Maya Lin, BOUNDARIES
Nato Thompson, LIVING AS FORM
Phil Smith, SITE SPECIFIC THEATER
Wingate, Kohn, Bruguera, TANIA BRUGUERA IN CONVERSATION WITH CLARE BISHOP
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Examinations and Assignments:
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Weekly responses and regular sharing of embodied work (live or documented). Written mid-term quiz; final short essays to complement significant culminating project, individual or group. |
Additional Requirements and/or Comments:
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Socially engaged performance practices are necessarily grounded in personal values. This course requires personal reflection alongside creative output. |
| Instructor(s): Pearl,Katie Times: ....R.. 01:20PM-04:10PM; Location: TBA |
| Total Enrollment Limit: 14 | | SR major: 4 | JR major: 4 | | |
| Seats Available: 14 | GRAD: X | SR non-major: 2 | JR non-major: 2 | SO: 2 | 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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