Teaching Workshop: Introduction to Performance Studies

Through this laboratory, students will: 1) familiarize themselves with foundational and emerging theoretical frameworks in performance studies, understanding how performance functions as both object of analysis and research methodology; 2) trace the genealogies and institutional formations of the performance studies field, situating its key debates within broader interdisciplinary conversations; 3) develop theoretical fluency by mapping dialogues between performance studies and cognate fields including critical race theory, decolonial thought, gender and sexuality studies, disability studies, critical memory studies, and communication studies; and 4) cultivate sensorial and kinesthetic tools of theorization as a complement to — and in productive tension with — cognitive and text-based modes of academic inquiry.

1) Students will demonstrate a critical understanding of the foundational texts, key debates, and current trajectories of the performance studies field, including its genealogies and institutional formations; 2) Students will explain how performance functions simultaneously as subject matter, research methodology, and mode of knowledge production across a range of cultural and disciplinary contexts; 3) Students will apply interdisciplinary theoretical frameworks — drawn from performance studies and adjacent fields — to analyze diverse performance practices and cultural phenomena; 4) Students will produce original theoretical and practice-based research, demonstrating the capacity to move fluidly between written argumentation and performance-based modes of knowledge production.