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Topics in Performance Studies (330-0-1)

Topic

Digital Performances in Viral Times

Instructors

Marcela Alejandra Fuentes

Meeting Info

Annie May Swift Hall 110: Wed 2:00PM - 5:00PM

Overview of class

In this project-based course we will investigate the relationship between performance and digital technology as "historians of the present." Drawing from a compendium of pandemic performances that are part of an in-progress archive, we will analyze, interpret, and critique digitally mediated performances such as vaxxies, mental health TikTok videos, Zoom plays, and social media participatory projects that emerged during recent times of social isolation and unrest. Key course questions include: What can we learn from the aesthetic and communicative strategies that these digital performances animated, linking personal experience and social engagement? In what ways do these performances connect with and might help us navigate today's context of (dis)information overload, polarization, and affective volatility? How have these performances critically expanded the field of digital performance studies, redefining what liveness is and does? Students will read scholarship on liveness and digital mediation, analyze networked performances of their choosing, and produce critical essays or curated performance collections using multimodal publishing platforms. By the end of the course, students will be able to critically analyze and assess digital artistic and social performances and apply digital literacy skills learned in hands-on sessions to present their research findings.