THE 220 - Theatre, Performance and Culture in New York

This course will introduce students to current artistic and scholarly trends in the fields of theatre and performance. We will look at various different critical methods through which critics, scholars, and practitioners analyze performances and engage in conversations that connect theatrical practices to larger cultural concerns and debates. We will also look at contemporary aesthetic trends and explore the theoretical questions that they raise. In particular we will reflect upon the ways live bodies on stage can tell stories which engage audiences in critical reflection about the world in which they live. Some of the questions we will explore include: How have cultural dialogues about identity - sexuality, race, gender, class, disability - influenced what appears on stage, the ways that audiences react to what they see, and how critics write about it all? How does an audience member’s positionality and identity impact the meanings they make of the stories told? What strategies have artists developed to keep theatre a “live art” in a world dominated by digital media? How can theatre and performance catalyze critical and creative thinking about the world around us? How does theatre invite audiences into imaginative worlds that allow us to envision and fight for a more just and equitable future? Many of the specific conversations will be determined by the performances we are able to see during the “study away” portion of the class. For example, if we are able to attend an immersive performance then we will do an in-depth analysis of the growing popularity of this theatrical form. Students’ understanding of theatre and performance as a form of storytelling that reflects broader cultural ideas, trends, and practices will be augmented through site visits to various cultural institutions (museums, historical landmarks, neighborhoods, etc). This program is conceptualized as a hybrid course that takes lessons from the best practices deployed during remote learning and fuses them with site-specific learning. Week one of the course will be conducted fully remotely. Students will read, research, discuss, write and prepare for the things they will see and visit during weeks 2 and 3. Weeks 2 and 3 will take place in New York City. Students will be engaged in learning for the full day. Below is a proposed schedule for a typical day of learning while in New York. Weeks 4-4.5 of the course will once again be conducted remotely, and consist of writing, synthesis of material seen on the field trip, and completion of a final assignment (a response portfolio/collage). 

Satisfies Theatre minor requirement.
Satisfies Visual and Performing Arts requirement.