Dramatic Arts

The goal of this course is to acquaint students with the basic history, philosophy, methodologies, and practice of drama in the field of Education. Through the study of history, philosophy and practice of each practitioner, the course explores the potential of drama as a tool of diverse learning. Along with theoretical study, students will be exposed to hands-on exercises and techniques of “Educational Drama.” By the end of the course, a widened knowledge and perspective of the possibility of educational drama will be acquired.  

During the first four weeks, students will be exposed to many readings and a variety of drama techniques and methods to prepare for the design, implementation, and evaluation of drama activities. After this period, students will be divided into groups where they will be assigned a drama practitioner; create a lesson plan and conduct a drama. The whole class will reflect upon this activity at the end of the course.  

The course lays foundations in performance studies, introducing key concepts, theories and approaches. These are supplemented by seminars to focus on critical and textual analysis and small group tutorials. Students are introduced to a range of performance forms and methods of analysis. 

This course introduces performance studies and provides the analytical and methodological tools necessary for research on the ways various performance practices constitute public spaces. It introduces the concept of performance understood as an embodying practice, including everyday performances (self-representations, individual activities, daily interactions), civic performances (speech acts, protests, social movements), and artistic performances (theatre, dance, music, artivism), and the concept of public space, including a smooth public space (a space of peace, harmony, consensus) and a striated public space (a space of confrontation, disharmony, dissensus). The course studies how different performances are constructed, how they constitute public spaces, and, consequently, how they produce social, political, and cultural effects. In providing insight into various performance practices, performance theory, political theory, and art studies, this course appeals to students interested in developing the theoretical tools necessary for the study of the significance of performance practices in shaping public actions, discourses, representations, and opinions. Through a combination of close reading of texts, lectures, discussions, video projections and assignments, the course analyzes selected performances both in group and individually. Reflective discussions about selected texts and performances are designed to maximize student input and participation. Equipped with analytical skills, students learn to assess how performances can challenge and reshape public space.

This course combines a critical historical overview of arts criticism with its practical application. It enables students to build a portfolio of different forms of critical writing, tailored to different potential readerships and a variety of publication formats across different media, e.g., in print or via the web. It also encourages students to engage critically with a broad range of live performance.

This course provides an opportunity to participate in theatrical improvisation activities to develop oral skills. It practices expressing oneself in communication situations and learning to adapt to the context. The course includes guided improvisation and writing short dialogues around acts of staged speech. It facilitates development of oral skills through theatrical play; adapting to different communication situations (levels of language, sociocultural codes); learning about writing theatrical dialogue; and discovering French theater and theatrical techniques.

This course reads and analyzes contemporary theater that focuses on going outside the box that is the standard form of poetry and theater. It focuses on playwrights such as Sarah Kayne and Debbie Tucker Green; and on "in your ear" theater, written in Britain, that highlights the discrepancy between what is heard and seen. 

The musical emerged at the end of the 19th century to become one of the most popular and commercially successful theatre forms in the world. This course looks at the long history of the musical, its many varieties (from musical comedy to the integrated musical, from the concept musical to the rock musical, from SHOWBOAT to HAMILTON); considering its pleasures and its politics, its representations of gender, race and sexuality, the relationship between the stage and film musical. The course looks at the artistic achievements of the music theater form and the peculiarities of its cultural form, the role of narrative, the relation between song and story, etc. The course will examine whether musicals are appropriate vehicle for serious content, whether its apparent frivolity might be of significance and value, and the political significance of kitsch, camp, escapism, and excess in the musical’s formation. 

This course examines how cultural interventions are used in areas of social development in local, national, and international contexts. Students examine how performance has been used to address issues which may include education, health, sexuality, gender, race, migration, disability, and social exclusion. Students consider case studies of theatre and performance work in action, theoretical frames to examine them, and current debates which inform and impact upon the field.

This course examines the power relations of theatre and performance, focusing on how artists engage with the politics of representation and identity formation. Discussions and readings will draw from key academic and political debates, which could include queer theory, post-colonial studies, critical race theory, feminism, disability studies, Marxism, etc. Through study of a wide range of play texts and performance traditions, students will examine how formal and aesthetic innovations in theatre relate to the social and economic conditions from which they emerge.