Theatre and Social Change (341-0-20)

Topic

Decolonizing Theatre

Instructors

Steven Keary Watts

Meeting Info

Wirtz 235 Seminar Room 1: Tues, Thurs 12:30PM - 1:50PM

Overview of class

This course posits that some traditional ways of thinking about and making theatre uphold beliefs and practices that erase the history and culture of whole populations of indigenous and non-white people across the globe, rendering the cultural production of white, European and US-American artists a universal standard. Throughout the quarter, we will identify these powerful beliefs and practices as they manifest in theatre history and contemporary theatre-making as instances of racism, misogyny, xenophobia, homophobia and a host of other violent, colonial tactics. We will try to settle on a working understanding of "decolonization" to analyze counter-strategies that theatre artists and institutions have deployed to target the legacy of colonialism, and we will develop our own alternative counter-strategies that might augment or otherwise affect existing approaches. We will also consider how the classroom is a colonized space, and develop learning strategies and outcomes informed by our developing understanding of what "decolonization" is. That is to say, there will be no tests or traditional final essays; students will have the agency to determine, in consultation with the instructor, some course content and how they wish to demonstrate proficiency with course objectives. Ultimately, we will ask how useful "decolonization" is as an analytic for understanding and developing counter-strategies that challenge the legacy of settler colonialism.

Class Materials (Required)

Cost estimate: $1-25