University of London, Queen Mary

This course presents a mix of different sorts of representation of one great historical moment, that of Civil Rights in the US from the mid-1950s to the mid-1960s. The movement for Civil Rights marked a decisive moment in the making of our contemporary world; although the situation of blacks in the USA was not formally a colonial one, the social determination to break the bonds of racial subjugation was part and parcel of the world becoming postcolonial; and it is an unfinished history, which still reverberates. The first few weeks focus on the novels, short stories, and autobiographical reportage of one writer, James Baldwin. Baldwin was pretty much (though not quite) the first non-white American author. Thereafter students branch out to explore different writings and different forms of representation.

This course explores how race is performed in theatre, art, and popular culture. Of particular interest are performances that trouble how we think or talk about race, especially as it intersects with other identity categories like gender, class, sexuality, and disability. Why are race and structural racism such difficult topics to discuss, especially in the context of performance? What does it mean to label a performance racist, and how can we as artists develop anti-racist performance practices? The topics this seminar covers could include histories of blackface minstrelsy, debates over "color-blind" casting, and the politics of cultural appropriation in pop culture.