DRA7013
Performance, Activism, Social Justice
Level 7 (30 credits)
This module explores how performance contributes to social justice, especially through activism. It examines: activist movements, such as Black Lives Matter, Extinction Rebellion, and activism for indigenous rights; activist practices and actions, spanning pacifism and violence, and including occupations, events like carnivals, and performances such as verbatim theatre; and intersecting theories of activism, social justice, and performance, such as Boal's Poetics of the Oppressed, Judith Butler's theory of assembly, and Christina Sharpe's theory of wake-work, drawing on wider literatures in, for example, critical race theory, environmental humanities, queer theory, law, and disability rights. The module focuses on the present but explores historical roots, such as the Diggers and Levellers of the English Civil War, South African Township Theatre, women's suffrage movements, struggles for abolition and decolonisation, and activism in relation to disability, AIDS, and more. It explores arguments for activism's benefits but also explorations of its limits. It considers how performance studies can help us better understand – and potentially practice – activism for social justice, and how performance might particularly contribute to action for social change.
Preparing for this module and approximate costs:
Full details of readings and performances, will be made available in January. To make a start, you are encouraged to read the following, excerpts from which will be assigned during the semester:
- Judith Butler, Notes Toward a Performative Theory of Assembly, Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP, 2015.
- Lola Olufemi, Feminism, Interrupted: Disrupting Power, London: Pluto Books, 2020.
- Lara Shalson, Theatre and Protest, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2017.
Most exhibitions or performances will be free or covered by SED. The total costs you will be expected to pay for this module will not exceed £20.
There is some content covered on the programme that you may find challenging and sensitive. We do not issue content notes for individual texts (written, performance, visual, sonic etc.), but please do contact your module tutor and/or convenor and/or adviser if you have concerns or problems relating any of the content, themes or discussions.
Programme |
MA Theatre and Performance; MSc Creative Arts and Mental Health |
Learning Context |
seminar-based |
Semester |
Semester 2 |
Assessment |
1. Presentation (8 minutes) 20% 2. Essay (3500 words) 80% |
Contact |
|
School of English and Drama, Queen Mary University of London
Contact: sed-information@qmul.ac.uk
Last updated on 26 Oct 2023 by Dylan Gambrill
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