An examination of the origins of the field of performance studies in literary study of theatre and drama, anthropological investigations of ritual, and sociological analyses of performance in everyday life.
Students will become familiar with the intellectual inquiry that drives Performance Studies as a field and the uses of the idea of performance as a heuristic with broad applicability.
Textual/Visual Analysis: Students will learn to read, analyze, and interpret cultural projects such as theater, film, television, and new media, as well as cultural performances and everyday behavior.
Interpretive Frameworks: Students will become familiar with a variety of social, cultural, and philosophical theories and be able to apply those theories to cultural performances, everyday behavior, and creative texts, as well as to their own cultural observations.
All materials will be provided. There is nothing to purchase.
Final Grade Scale: To get a final grade of A, you must have earned at least a numerical grade of at least 90% of the available points. For a B, you must have a numerical grade of at least 80%; 70% for a C; 60% for a D. Please use these benchmarks to interpret the numerical grades you receive in the course.
The numerical grade generated by this calculation is subject to modification in either direction in light of attendance, class participation, and other indications of engagement with and commitment to the course (or lack thereof). Please note that I do not automatically round up numerical grades at any stage.
You may miss a total of three (3) classes over the course of the semester without penalty. If at all possible, please contact the instructor when you know you will not be in class.
- Reasons for absences. The attendance policy does not make any distinction about the reasons for your absences. Absences for any illness count against the three permitted absences. Only absences officially exempted by the Institute (e.g., due to participation in official GA Tech athletics, to religious observance, to personal or family crisis confirmed by documentation from the Dean of Students) will not be counted among your allotted absences. These exemptions are difficult to get.
- Responsibility for missed work. Students are responsible for finding out what they may have missed while absent from class and what policy the instructor has for making up missed work. However, if you are not present to participate in a group presentation, you will fail the course.
- Absence penalties. Each additional absence after the allotted number deducts one-half of a letter grade (5 pts) from your final grade. Please click here (Links to an external site.) to see Georgia Tech's updated institutional attendance policy.
Please note that I do not offer make-up exams except in cases of emergencies documented by the Dean of Students office. In such cases, no make-up exam will be scheduled until the Dean of Students has evaluated the request.
Students are expected to maintain the highest standards of academic integrity. All work submitted must be original and properly cited. Plagiarism, cheating, or any form of academic dishonesty will result in immediate consequences as outlined in the university's academic integrity policy.
This is a Core IMPACTS course that is part of the Humanities area.
Core IMPACTS refers to the core curriculum, which provides students with essential knowledge in foundational academic areas. This course will help master course content, and support students’ broad academic and career goals.
This course should direct students toward a broad Orienting Question:
- How do I interpret the human experience through creative, linguistic and philosophical works?
Completion of this course should enable students to meet the following Learning Outcome:
- Students will effectively analyze and interpret the meaning, cultural significance and ethical implications of literary/philosophical texts in English or other languages, or of works in the visual/performing arts.
Course content, activities and exercises in this course should help students develop the following Career-Ready Competencies:
- Ethical Reasoning
- Information Literacy
- Intercultural Competence