DTS 3610 Race on the American Stage
How does race intersect with American theatre history and popular culture? Students explore the history of theatre in North America, focusing on the United States, through the conceptual frame of race and racial equity. Students use historiographical research methods to complete a major research assignment focused on understanding the historical context of performance and its relevance to today.
Course Types
Expression; Advanced Studies; Advancing Equity Requirement
Notes
- By the end of this course students should be able to:
● interrogate their own racial and other identities within both historical and contemporary American theatre, and analyze how identity shapes their experiences as performance scholars, theatre makers, and audiences
● understand how the American theatre participates in the social construction of race and intersectional identities, and evaluate the historic, cultural, and societal causes of systemic and structural inequity in the American theatre
● apply real and/or theoretical solutions to systemic racism and other forms of oppression in the American theatre
● apply theoretical frameworks of race and racism to historical dramatic scripts and production practices
● identify and discuss the importance of key figures, plays, and concepts of American theatre history and analyze their influence on theatre today
● pose a historical research question, explore that question through assessing and examining historical scripts and archival evidence of historical performances, and use this evidence effectively to construct a persuasive historical argument