Course
Photo credit: Lorraine Capparell, 1996.
Course: Afro-American Studies/Theatre & Drama/Dance 469: Interdisciplinary Studies in the Arts
Topic Title: Forward Motion: Performing the New Narratives of the 21st Century
Instructor: Rhodessa Jones, Spring 2014 Artist in Residence
UW Instructor of Record: Sandra Adell, Department of Afro-American Studies
Day/Time: Tuesdays and Thursdays 3:30–5:30 p.m.
Location:1132 Vilas Hall
Limit: 25
Credits: 3
Prereq: Consent required. Course is closed.
Course Description
Rhodessa Jones will teach a semester-long course entitled “Forward Motion: Performing the New Narratives of the Twenty-First Century.” Using the theatrical performance processes she has developed over the past twenty years to explore issues of race and gender, women’s bodies and rights, multiculturalism and immigration, Jones will challenge her students to think critically about the vital role of the arts and humanities in community action and to create performance work that responds to the questions:
- How can you use the visual and performing arts for community organizing?
- What role can the higher education classroom play in promoting personal, social and political changes?
- If everything in the world that is familiar to us today suddenly changed, what could you make happen for yourselves?
The course will meet twice a week, with a lecture/performance lab format. Because collaboration is central to Ms. Jones’s work, the course is intended to draw students from a variety of disciplines including but not limited to: theatre, music, dance; visual art, sociology, gender & women’s studies, Afro-American studies and anthropology.