Hispanic Performance Studies

Performance studies is an interdisciplinary field that borrows from theatre studies, anthropology, sociology, and cultural studies. This course offers an introduction to performance studies through a focus on Hispanic culture. We will ask the question “What is performance?” and develop the tools to describe, analyze, and interpret a broad range of performances such as plays, political speeches, bullfights, protests, recordings, celebrations, and everyday encounters.  We will focus on performance as a process–oriented, participatory, and experiential way of engaging the world. We will concentrate on the overlapping aspects of performance as/of literature (poetry and drama), as/of everyday life (ritual, identity, and culture), and as/of politics (power, activism, and social change).  We will pay particular attention to the relationship of performance to social culture, investigating the link between performance and race, gender, and sexuality.  Because the goal of the course is to produce critical thinkers who are capable of using performance as an analytical tool and as part of a creative process, students will be required to perform. (SPAN 0220 or placement) 3 hrs. lect./disc