First-Year Interdisciplinary Seminar: Puppetry and Material Performance

Catalog description

In an unstable and unpredictable world, what do puppets have to teach us? How might the study of puppetry and material performance inform, challenge, or help us imagine new kinds of relationships (social, political, ecological, etc.) in an ever-changing world? Through a combination of seminars and studio practice, this course introduces students to the field of puppetry and material performance. Throughout the course we will consider puppetry and material performance in a range of contexts including political activism, religious ceremony, cultural celebration, and popular theater. In each of our material investigations we will examine the visual dramaturgy and aesthetics of objects as well as the relationships between animators and objects and how these configurations and dynamics change with the context and circumstance of performance. Readings will be drawn from a range of disciplines including anthropology, dance, political theory, performance studies, disability studies, media studies, to name just a few.