| Unit I: Introduction and Overview |
| 1-2 |
What is culture? And how do we identify culture and performance in American theater? A sharing of family traditions and the creation of "stereotypical" history of immigration to the United States. This unit will provide students with a general overview of basic concepts such as theater, movement, culture, diversity, and composition. |
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| Unit II: African American Theatrical Traditions |
| 3-6 |
What are African American traditions of theater? How do music and dance figure in the construction of African American experience on stage? How can we tell historical stories of African American scientists and engineers? In this unit, we will participate in the African American Living History Museum, a performance event that chronicles the lives of African American scientists and engineers. |
Special event: Theatrical Design Panel (Session 4). Three professional Boston-based designers share views on working in the field.
Performance project #1 (Session 6): African American Living History Museum. |
| Unit III: Asian American Theatrical Traditions |
| 7-12 |
How can theater express Asian American cultural heritage? What sorts of stories do Asian diaspora playwrights chose to tell? A consideration of David Henry Hwang’s M. Butterfly. |
Special event (Session 10): Slippage presents Ennobling Nonna, a world premiere composed by Maria Porter, directed by Thomas DeFrantz. Anna Scott performance, Fish Tales, Rivers, and Other Female Parts.
Performance project #2 due (Session 11, and 12): Gender and Secrecy.
Guest visit (Session 11): Jane Jung, founder and dominant creative force behind Asian American Theater Collaborative, will visit class to talk about her work and goals in creating theater. |
| Unit IV: Native American and Latino/a and Chicano Theatrical Traditions |
| 13-18 |
How do Native American traditions of storytelling persist in the twenty-first century? What sorts of Chicano and Latino/a American theatrical traditions have emerged in the past century? A focus on the plays of Miguel Piñero. |
Special event (between Session 17, and 18): Joy Harjo in How We Became Human.
Performance project #3 due (Session 18, and 5 days before Session 19): Spoken Word Poetry.
Guest artist visit (Session 17) Joy Harjo. |
| Unit V: Reaching Beyond Diversity |
| 19-22 |
How can we reach beyond the rubric of diversity to explore particular histories and theatrical methodologies? |
Final group projects due on Session 22, and 2 days after Session 22. |