Theatre and Social Change (341-0-21)

Topic

Theatre and Violence

Instructors

Elizabeth W Son
847/467-0513
70 Arts Circle Drive, 5th floor, room #174
Office Hours: Tuesdays, 1-3pm

Meeting Info

Wirtz 240 Seminar Room 2: Tues, Thurs 2:00PM - 3:20PM

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—sexual slavery, genocide, disappearances, apartheid, and other forms of 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 trauma; and community formation.

Registration Requirements

Pre-reg: Theatre maj/min only
Open to all undergraduates during regular registration

Class Materials (Required)

Course packet $26-50

Enrollment Requirements

Enrollment Requirements: This class is open to theatre students only until the end of pre-registration, after which time enrollment will be open to everyone who has taken the prerequisites