Listed in: Film and Media Studies, as FAMS-242 | Theater and Dance, as THDA-155
(Offered as FAMS 242 and THDA 155.) We “act” everyday. We play roles as students, as friends, as city-people, country-people, cosmopolitans. But what does it mean to present oneself publicly, either as “oneself” or in a role of another? The goal of this course is to demystify the acting process, to imagine together how we might “act naturally” in a world that is overwhelmed by technological forms of communication that both enable exchange with one another and that hamper it.
We will read a range of texts, from Erving Goffman’s Self and Everyday Life, to poetry and drama, and we will watch a series of films. Our attention to these works will be to understand the choices we can make as actors, and what choices directors make in their work with actors. Ultimately, the goal of this course is to understand human behavior itself.
Limited to 30 students. Fall semester. Croxton Lecturer Howard.
Section 01
Tu 10:00 AM - 11:20 AM MEAD 115
Th 10:00 AM - 11:20 AM MEAD 115
| ISBN | Title | Publisher | Author(s) | Comment | Book Store | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life | Penguin Psychology | Erving Goffman | Amherst Books | TBD | ||
| Fathers and Sons | Penguin Classics | Ivan Turgenev | Amherst Books | TBD | ||
| Acting: The First Six Lessons | Literary Licensing | Richard Boleslavsky | Amherst Books | TBD | ||
| Four Plays | Smith & Kraus | Anton Chekhov | Amherst Books | TBD |
These books are available locally at Amherst Books.