Mullticultural Theater in the United States 4219-RS270

The proseminar focuses on American theater and performance from a multicultural perspective. On the one hand, taking a traditional approach to multicultural studies, we study selected contributions to the history of American theater by American minorities. Thus, examples are drawn from works by Black, Chicanx/Latinx, Asian American, Native American, Feminist and Queer, and other artists whose voices have often been relegated to the margins of the cannon. We engage the debate about representation and participation of diverse American populations in American spectatorial culture and the role of theater, including the role of theater as an institution in specific places, in pushing this debate forward. Simultaneously, reflecting on the question of multiculturalism itself we discuss those works in American theater which enact a space in between different cultures, become an arena of negotiation of difference, stage America as a diverse, pluriversal, multiethnic nation. Discussions focus on critical language and interpretation of dramatic scripts, generic location of texts, social context of productions, their cultural and intersectional specificity, theater theory and actors’ training methodologies, institutional and geographical location of theaters, cultural debates about access and visibility, and more. The discussed material will help students orient themselves in the broad landscape of American theater. Students will be able to form informed, nuanced opinions about American theater and performance and will acquire tools to conduct their own research in the field.
LEARNING METHODS
Script readings, videos, written assignments, critiques, discussions, quizzes, short presentations, final papers, mid-semester and final projects.
TOOLS: Because theater allows us to enter other people's lives and is a public forum, the course uses the method of group readings of texts. To prepare such readings, the texts must first be interpreted and then practiced with the group before presentations. The aim of these projects, in addition to enabling students to directly experience the world of characters and performances, is also to practice public speaking, as well as build self-confidence, cooperation and mutual trust in the group.
TIME: To get the most out of class time, please allow time outside of class for this course. For every hour spent in class, students should spend at least 2 hours reading and studying.

Type of course

proseminars
elective courses

Mode

Classroom

Prerequisites (description)

Interest in American theater, especially multicultural theater, and readiness to follow its development and debates on this topic. Interest in the history and phenomena of media representation in the USA and the issues of the history of ethnic communities and other minorities. Willingness expand knowledge in this field and to search examples illustrating issues discussed.

Course coordinators

Grzegorz Welizarowicz

Learning outcomes

Knowledge:
*The graduate has knowledge of theater studies and cultural studies and their relationship to interdisciplinary studies of American multiculturalism.
*The graduate knows and understands selected works of art and facts related to the development of American theater and can define their relationship to cultural life in the Americas in historical, social, political, economic, etc. contexts.
*The graduate is familiar with the terminology, methods, tools, and techniques of data acquisition, selected research traditions, schools of thought, and directions of their development necessary for research on American theater.
*The graduate knows the theoretical and methodological approaches within the research on American theater necessary for research, advanced analysis, and interpretation of the phenomenon of multicultural theater in the USA.

Skills:
*The graduate can apply appropriate research methods and tools, as well as adapt existing ones and develop new ones for interdisciplinary studies of American theater, especially multicultural theater in the USA.
*The graduate can interpret works of theater in the USA in their various contexts (social, cultural, political, etc.) using theoretical and methodological tools of cultural studies, theater studies.
*The graduate can identify, describe phenomena in the field of multicultural theater and audiovisual representation in the USA using advanced theoretical and methodological tools from the fields of cultural and religious studies and art studies, as well as formulate and solve research problems in this area.
*The graduate can communicate with diverse audiences and engage in debates on specialized Americanist topics related to theatrical phenomena in the USA using specialist terminology in English.
*The graduate can further expand and supplement their knowledge of theater in the USA through a self-planned and implemented lifelong learning process.

Social competences:
*The graduate is ready to use their interdisciplinary knowledge in the field of American theater-cultural studies to conduct research and formulate their own opinions.
*The graduate is ready to recognize the importance of knowledge in the field of theater studies in the USA in solving cognitive and practical problems and to seek the opinions of experts in case of difficulties in solving them independently.
*The graduate is ready to continue learning and to develop the achievements of American studies in American theater, especially in the field of theater and performances dealing with aspects of multiculturalism or originating from the circles of American minorities.

Assessment criteria

Attendance = 5%
Class participation = 10%
Short presentation = 10%
proposal of the research paper = 10%
annotated bibliography for the research paper = 15%
in-class project presentation = 20%
15-page research paper = 30%

Bibliography

Banks, Daniel “Introduction: Hip Hop Theater’s Ethic of Inclusion”
Baraka, Amiri. Dutchman (1964)
Brecht Bertold. On Theatre.
Broyles Gonzales, Yolanda. El Teatro Campesino: Theatre in the Chicano Movement. (1993)
Childress, Alice. Trouble in Mind (1955)
Culture Clash. Chavez Ravine. (2006)
_____ . Coast to Coast. (2005)
Davis, Mike. City of Quartz.
DeLyser, Dydia “Ramona Memories, Fiction, Tourist Practices and Placing the Past in Southern California”
Elam, Harry J. “Towards a new territory in multicultural theater” in Roberta Uno and Lusy Mae San Pablo Burns. The Color of Theater: Race, Culture and Contemporary Performance. Continuum, 2002. (91-114).
Finley, Karen. We Keep Our Victims Ready.
Gates, Henry Louis. “Beyond the Culture Wars: Identities in Dialogue” Profession, 1993, 6-11.
Geiogamah, Hanay. 49.
https://www.americantheatre.org/2018/03/20/a-list-of-native-theatres-and-theatremakers/
https://www.americantheatre.org/2018/03/20/raising-native-voices-then-amplifying-them/
Głowacki, Janusz. Antigone in New York and Hunting Cockroaches
Gomez-Pena, Guillermo. “The Multicultural Paradigm”
_____ . BORDERscape 2000. in Roberta Uno and Lusy Mae San Pablo Burns. The Color of Theater: Race, Culture and Contemporary Performance. Continuum, 2002. (347-374)
Gotanda, Philip Kan. The Wash
https://www.americantheatre.org/1996/02/01/choice-and-chance/
Hansberry, Loraine. A Raisin in the Sun (1959)
Harris, Jeremy O. Slave Play
https://www.americantheatre.org/2019/07/01/slave-play-racism-doesnt-have-a-safe-word/
Hinds, Rickerby. Dreamscape (2010)
hooks, bell. “A Revolution of Values: The Promise of Multicultural Change” in Simon During. The Cultural Studies Reader. Routledge. 1999. (233-240)
Hughes, Holly. World Without End.
Hwang, Henry David. M. Butterfly
https://www.americantheatre.org/2008/04/01/fun-with-race-and-the-media/
Juarez, Luis Xago. IYA: The Esselen Remember (2015)
Kondo, Dorinne. “(Re)Visions of Race: Contemporary Race Theory and the Cultural Politics of Racial Crossover in Documentary Theatre”
Tony Kushner Angels in America
Lucas, Ashley E. “Chavez Ravine: Culture Clash and the Political Project of Rewriting History”
Martyna Majok Ironbound
https://www.americantheatre.org/2016/12/20/martyna-majok-shines-a-light-on-the-invisible-in-ironbound/
Miranda, Lin Manuel. Hamilton.
Morton, Carlos. Los Dorados. (1978)
Nottage, Lynn. Sweat (2015)
Perry, Tyler. For Colored Girls (2010)
Shange, Ntozake. For Colored Girls Who Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow is Enuff (1978)
Sibbles Drury, Jackie. Fairview (2019)
Smith, Anna Deavere. Twilight. (1992),
_____ . Fires in the Mirror. (1993)
Smith, Roger Guenveur. Rodney King.
______ . Blood and Brains.
_____ . A Huey P. Newton Story. L.A. Theatre Works Audio Theatre Collection
Parks, Susan Lori. 365 Days / 365 Plays (2006)
______ . Father Comes Home from the War
_____ . The Equation for Black People on Stage
Reed, Ishamel. The Haunting of Lin Manuel Miranda.
Shohat, Ella and Robert Stam. Unthinking Eurocentrism Multiculturalism and the Media (46-49)
El Teatro Campesino Actos
Valdez, Luis. Zoot Suit. (1978)
Valdez, Luis with Michael M. Chemers. Theatre of the Sphere_ The Vibrant Being. Routledge, 2021.
Wilson, August Fences.
_____ . Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom .
_____ . “The Ground on which I Stand.” American Theatre, Sep96, Vol. 13, Issue 7.
Wilson, Edwin. The Theatre Experience. McGraw-Hill. 2015
Wolfe, George C. The Colored Museum. 1987.
Worthen, W.B. “African American Theater” in “The American Theater” (939-942)
Zangwill, Israel. The Melting Pot.
and others.

Additional information

Additional information (registration calendar, class conductors, localization and schedules of classes), might be available in the USOSweb system:

Description of 4219-RS270 in USOSweb