Introduction to Doctoral Studies
TDGR 289
Meeting Time: T. 1:30-4:20
Place: GH 144
Fall 2005
Nadine George-Graves
Office hours: Tuesdays 11.30-1.30
Office: GH 302
ngeorge@ucsd.edu
Emily Colborn-Roxworthy
Office hours: Tuesdays 9-11 a.m. and
Wednesdays 2-4 p.m. (through the end of
October; thereafter by appointment only)
Office: GH 320
eroxworthy@ucsd.edu
As a fundamental introduction to the work of scholars in the field of theater and
performance studies, students in this class will investigate methodologies of theater and
performance history, theories of scholarship, theories of pedagogy, and critical theories of
performance.
Books (available from the Price Center Bookstore):
Shannon Jackson, Professing Performance
Jon McKenzie, Perform or Else
Rovit and Goldfarb, Theatrical Performance during the Holocaust
Saidiya V. Hartman, Scenes of Subjection
bell hooks, Teaching Community
June Jordon, Poetry for the People
Marvin Carlson, The Haunted Stage: The Theatre as Memory Machine
Course Packet (CP) is available from University Readers.
Please see the UCSD productions of Bus Stop and Blood Wedding (dates TBA)
Assignments:
Abstract Assignment (5%) (1-2 pages plus compiled abstracts)
Gather three abstracts from Dissertation Abstracts International (DAI) that closely
intersect with your own research project or research interests. Write an abstract of
your own that enters into the scholarly dialogue between these extant
dissertations. Your abstract need not represent your actual dissertation project, but
it should offer original research and a theoretical and/or methodological
intervention of some sort.
Comparative Paper (20%) (10-12 pages on evidentiary use in a chosen subfield)
Conduct a survey of the major scholarship in a subfield of theatre and
performance studies (e.g., English Renaissance drama, intercultural performance,
semiotics, etc.). Compare these major texts to determine which methods are
deployed (and avoided), how evidence is analyzed (and overlooked), and what
TDGR 289 FA’05 page 2
problems are solved (and left unanswered). From the conclusions you draw in this
essay, you should offer projections about the future directions of your chosen
subfield, including the gaps that need to be filled by future scholarship.
Research Design (15%) (7-9 pages)
A cache of primary research materials will be made available to the class at the
Geisel Library. Visit this archive and identify a methodological issue and
analytical approach for some segment of this material. Write a proposal for
conducting (hypothetical) article-length research that would address the issues
you identify; include in your proposal a bibliography of secondary sources that
you would need to draw upon in your analysis (bibliography included in page
count).
Journal Presentation (10%)
In week 3 each student will select (sign-up for) one of the major academic
journals in theatre and performance studies and proceed to carefully read,
depending on the frequency of publication, the last two or three volumes it has
published. In week 5 each student will then give a 10-minute individual
presentation summarizing his/her journal’s editorial approach, methodological
and theoretical trends, and preferred content. The presentation should include a
handout that reiterates the most important points and lists the journal’s submission
policy.
Teaching Portfolio (15%)
Sample Syllabus:
Students will develop the curriculum for an introduction to theater course for firstyear undergraduates.
Sample Exam Questions:
Students will compose six sample exam questions from The Haunted Stage (2 for
first year undergrads, 2 for advanced undergrads, and 2 for PhDs).
Sample Paper Assignment:
Students will compose a handout for an undergraduate mid-term paper
assignment.
Performance Review (10%) (5-7 pages)
Students will attend the UCSD performances of Blood Wedding and Bus Stop and
write a 5-7 page production analysis in the style of performance reviews
published in professional journals (i.e. not for the local newspaper).
Book Review (10%) (5-7 pages)
Students will write a 5-7 page book review for any one of the assigned books in
the style of book reviews published in professional journals.
Class Participation (15%)
TDGR 289 FA’05 page 3
Week 1
Tues. Sept. 27
Week 2
Tues. Oct. 4
Week 3
Tues. Oct. 11
Fri. Oct. 14
Week 4
Tues. Oct. 18
Fri. Oct. 21
Week 5
Tues. Oct. 25
Week 6
Tues. Nov. 1
Genealogy of the Field
Reading:
• Shannon Jackson, Professing Performance
Interdisciplinarity and the Performance Paradigm
Reading:
• from Julie Thompson Klein, Crossing Boundaries:
Knowledge, Disciplinarities, and Interdisciplinarities (CP)
• Jon McKenzie, Perform or Else
Workshop: Conceiving a research project
Abstract assignment due
Theatre in a Historical Moment
Reading:
• Erika Fischer-Lichte, “Some Critical Remarks on Theatre
Historiography,” from Wilmer, ed., Writing and Rewriting
National Theatre Histories (CP)
• Rovit and Goldfarb, eds., Theatrical Performance during the
Holocaust: Texts / Documents / Memoirs (read pages 1-10,
28-71, 91-132, 145-158, 167-207, and 250-273)
Workshop: Grantwriting and proposals
Comparative paper due via email by noon
Iconography of Performance
Reading:
• Introduction and chapter three from Thomas F. Heck,
Picturing Performance (CP)
• Annabelle Melzer, “‘Best Betrayal’: The Documentation of
Performance on Video and Film” Parts I and II from New
Theatre Quarterly (CP)
Workshop: Differentiating source materials
Research design due in Emily’s mailbox by noon
Journals in Theatre and Performance Studies
Reading:
• Latest two volumes of a quarterly journal or latest three
volumes of a biannual journal, TBD for individual journal
presentations
Workshop: Navigating the publishing process (editing and
copyright)
Journal presentations
Library Resources
Guest Lecturer: Rob Melton, Bibliographer for Theater and
Dance, UCSD Libraries
Meet in the Library Electronic Classroom (LEC)
Reading:
• Saidiya V. Hartman, Scenes of Subjection
TDGR 289 FA’05 page 4
Week 7
Tues. Nov. 8
Week 8
Tues. Nov. 15
Life, the University and Everything
Reading:
• from Jill Dolan, Geographies of Learning (CP)
• from Ernest Boyer, Scholarship Reconsidered (CP)
• from Theatre Survey: Theatre History in the New
Millennium: A Forum (45:2) (CP)
• Scholarship for the Discipline of Theatre: An Association for
Theatre in Higher Education White Paper (CP)
• Susan Leigh Foster “Improvising History” (CP)
• Dwight Conquergood, “Performance Studies: Interventions
and Radical Research” (CP)
• thevalve.org
Workshop: CVs, cover letters and the academic job market
See Dick Learn. Learn, Dick, Learn!
Readings:
• bell hooks, Teaching Community
• Theater production reviews (CP)
See UCSD productions of Bus Stop and Blood Wedding
Week 9
Tues. Nov. 22
Week 10
Tues. Nov. 29
Production Review due
Teaching Out of the Box
Reading:
•
June Jordon, Poetry for the People
•
Plato, Lysis, Ion (CP)
•
from E. Patrick Johnson, Appropriating Blackness (CP)
•
from Sex and the Slayer (CP)
•
Bryant Keith Alexander, “Intimate Engagement” (CP)
Oh! The Places You’ll Go!
Reading:
• Marvin Carlson, The Haunted Stage: The Theatre as Memory
Machine
• Book reviews (CP)
Roundtable discussion and presentations of teaching
portfolios and production analyses (discuss documenting the
classroom)
Fri. Dec. 2
Teaching portfolios due
Book review due in Nadine’s box by noon