Listed in: Black Studies, as BLST-233 | Theater and Dance, as THDA-233
Christina Knight (Section 01)
(Offered as BLST 233 [US] and THDA 233.) What does it mean to say that we "perform" our identities? What role can performance play in the fight for racial and social justice? As a people long denied access to literacy, what role has performance played in shaping the history of black Americans? Performance studies--an interdisciplinary field devoted to the study of a range of aesthetic practices--offers us insight into such questions. In this course, we will investigate various performance "sites" including contemporary plays, movies, and television as well as social media. We will query the relationship between identities like race, gender, class, and performance as well as the connection between performance onstage and everyday life. We will also examine the kinds of political questions that performers raise with their work as well as what role spectators play in shaping how performances communicate meaning.
Fall semester. Visiting Professor Knight.
Section 01
M 12:30 PM - 01:50 PM CHAP 103
W 12:30 PM - 01:50 PM CHAP 103
This is preliminary information about books for this course. Please contact your instructor or the Academic Coordinator for the department, before attempting to purchase these books.
| ISBN | Title | Publisher | Author(s) | Comment | Book Store | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joe Turner's Come and Gone: A Play in Two Acts | New American Library | Wilson, August | Amherst Books | TBD | ||
| The America Play, and Other Works | Dramatists Play Service, New York | Parks, Suzan-Lori | Amherst Books | TBD | ||
| Ruined | Theatre Communications Group, New York | Nottage, Lynn | Amherst Books | TBD | ||
| Dutchman and the Slave: Two Plays/by LeRoi Jones | Perennial, 2001 | Baraka, Amiri | Amherst Books | TBD | ||
| The Brother/Sister Plays | Theatre Communications Group | McCraney, Tarell Alvin | Amherst Books | TBD | ||
| Funnyhouse of a Negro | Samuel French, Inc., 2011 | Kennedy, Adirenne | Amherst Books | TBD | ||
| Come Down Burning | Dramatists Play Service, 1995 | Corthron, Kia | Amherst Books | TBD | ||
| By the Way, Meet Vera Stark | Theatre Communications Group, 2013 | Nottage, Lynn | Amherst Books | TBD | ||
| Stick Fly: a Play | Northwestern University Press, 2008 | Diamond, Lydia R. | Amherst Books | TBD | ||
| Topdog/Underdog | Theatre Communications Group, 2001 | Parks, Suzan-Lori | Amherst Books | TBD |
These books are available locally at Amherst Books.