Theatre and Social Change (341-0-20)
Topic
Theatre and Violence
Instructors
Elizabeth Won-Kyung Son
847/467-0513
70 Arts Circle Drive, 5th floor, room #174
Office Hours: Tuesdays, 1-3pm
Meeting Info
Wirtz 235 Seminar Room 1: Mon, Wed 11:00AM - 12:20PM
Overview of class
In what ways can theatre matter to the world? How does social and political life shape theatre and vice versa? How does theatre create a new understanding of and engagement with traumatic pasts? This course explores these questions by examining how theatre engages with histories of human rights violations—genocide, disappearances, sexual slavery, apartheid, and other forms of mass violence—in Asia, Latin America, and Africa. We will also explore the work of artists, activists, and survivors in protests, truth and reconciliation commissions, and communal courts, as well as the influence of these different sites of performance on theatre. These performances from the stage and everyday life are embodied public events that engage multiple audiences, allowing people material ways to join in negotiating trauma and enacting personal and collective transformation. We will consider a range of topics such as the politics of memory; historical materialism and knowledge production; the ethics of representing violence; the theatricality of justice; mourning; witnessing; the transmission of memory; and community formation.
Class Materials (Required)
course packet $40
Class Attributes
SDG Peace & Justice
SDG Gender Equality