Performance and Society

Catalog description

Inspired by the evolving field of performance studies, THEA 101: Performance & Society introduces theatre and performance as artistic practice, creative action, a way of knowing, and a record and unfolding of culture. Combining the disciplinary domains of social science and the arts, the performances and performance practices we study range from the scared, to the artistic, to the commerical (and often more than one of these at once). This course positions the study of performance as interdisciplinary-drawing from foundational texts in sociology, anthropology, and literature, just as it draws from such other art forms as visual art, architecture, dance, and music. We work from the following three interrelated premises: art and culture shape each other; performance happens everywhere-in many geographies, and in spaces real and virtual; and theatre and dance are human endeavors that tell us about the past, rehearse the present, and point to possible futures. To test these ideas, students will participate in projects that explore the limits and extremities of performance through the lenses of theatre studies and social science, fields that view performance as human endeavor, and everyday life as performance, respectively. As the preceding suggests, this class is an integrative domains course that fulfills GA (arts) and GS (social science), positioning Theatre and Sociology as disciplinary partners. Thus, we take a "dramaturgical approach" to analyzing performance, as sociologist Erving Goffman terms it in the foundational work, The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life (1956). It is this correspondence between social science and theatre that Introduction to Performance and Society will explore. Students will: Learn their major theories, ways of thinking, and methodologies used in sociology; understand "performance" as an agile term used in sociology, theatre, performance studies, and other fields; experience a variety of performance spaces and places-from theatres, studios, and public places, to ad hoc and virtual spaces such as the Internet, social media platforms, and the mind; complete creative projects such as scripts, designs, dances, and collaborative performances that allow them to experience what performing artists do and how they do it; and attend and write about theatrical productions as art and social event THEA 101 asks students to study, share, and live the course's premises through collaborative activities, creative projects, and writing. Class activities ask students to interrogate the meanings of "liveness," "community," and "performance," as well as articulate theatre's role as an art and social practice in the past, present, and future.