Introduction to Performance Studies

In this course we will be exposed to performance as a critical term with broad applications to how humans, events, and environments coexist and engage. How, what, and where we enact has implications; we will expand our notion of performance, acknowledging its centrality in constructing identity, culture, and politics. We will build an understanding of how our actions (individually or collectively) contribute to a unique and dynamic social ecology. While this is primarily a theory course, we will also apply the discourse to some experiential practices. We will read texts within the field of performance studies, analyze critical events, engage in discussions and writing practices, and develop a final project that explores the ideas and actions proposed throughout the course.

Nathalie Jonas is a doctoral student in dance studies at Texas Woman's University. Her current research centers on modes of collective performance encompassing carnival, protest, and mourning rituals. Nathalie has been on faculty at Barnard College and Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University. She is currently an adjunct professor at Sterling College in Craftsbury, Vermont./