COMS 603:  Seminar in Performance Studies

Spring 2008

 

Christie Logan, Ph.D.               christie.logan@csun.edu

MZ 342                                   office phone:  818 - 677-2859

Office hours: 

T/ Th 1-2, Wed. 5:30 – 6:30, and by appointment. On days I'm not in, email is the best way to reach me.

 

Texts:

  • Logan, COMS 603 Reader is available only at Northridge Copies, 9130 B Reseda Blvd, 775-0255.  Other articles will be available as links on the online course schedule.
  • Soyini Madison, Critical Ethnography: Method, Ethics, and Performance.  Sage, 2006.  ISBN 0-7619-2916-9
  • H.L. Goodall, Writing the New Ethnography (2000 Alta Mira Press/Rowman & Littlefield) ISBN: 0-7425-0339-9
recommended, not required:
  • Clifford Geertz, Local Knowledge (Perseus/Basic Books) ISBN-10: 0465041620
  • Clifford Geertz, Available Light, (Princeton University Press; Reprint edition October 1, 2001) ISBN-10: 0691089566

 

Required Technology:

USB Flash drive

Microcassette, digital recorder or similar device for recording interviews.  You may use additional technology with approval by your community.

 

Course Description:

[Catalog Copy]: Advanced study of contemporary theory and practice in performance studies, with an emphasis on sociocultural frameworks for creating, analyzing and evaluating performance. A fundamental assumption of the course is that performance, in its diverse forms, contexts, and processes, is integrally involved with the ongoing processes of culture.

 

This semester we will be using ethnographic theories and methods to better understand the relationship between culture and performance.  We will employ ethnographic theories and methods as a mode of inquiry that is itself an embodied practice.  You will choose a community and conduct fieldwork within and on behalf of that community.  Plan on spending at least 25 hours at the site during the semester.

 

Objectives:

  1. To gain an understanding of ethnographic methods used in communication studies and performance studies, and to examine the performative turn in anthropology.
  2. To develop an appreciation for the ethical challenges of speaking on behalf of others, even with their permission.
  3. To gain a deeper understanding of self and other through readings, discussions, participant-observation experiences and performances.
  4. To develop research skills as a participant observer.
  5. To consider traditional and alternative ways of analyzing and reporting data.
  6. To test and demonstrate performance as a methodology for scholarly research.

 

Course Requirements:

20%     Contribution to class discussions and workshops: 

Reflective engagement with the course materials and your colleagues in the class.  Each week you will prepare a set of 2-4 questions that critically reflect on the readings and that will generate discussion.  You may also want to apply or test theories or concepts to your own fieldwork and report on that.  These questions will be posted in the “DQ” section of the course newsgroup by Sunday night each week. Your participation in performance exercises and workshops during the semester also figures into this grade..

 

15%     Prospectus or Research Plan. 

A prospectus of your research project, following Madison’s suggestions [Chapter 2] and other studies relevant to your particular project.  Here, you’ll describe the group or collective you’ll be working with, explain what draws you to this community, what you hope to discover and accomplish in your process, and how you intend to proceed.  Also discuss any issues or challenges you foresee, and how you will work with them.  Include an annotated bibliography of 5-8 sources relevant to this project, and/or research that illuminates dimensions of fieldwork generally.

 

25%     Fieldwork Journal, to be turned in twice during the semester. 

The journal will include your research and preparatory notes, field notes and observations, as well as interviews and other data (music, pictures, video etc.).  You can also use this for critical reflection on readings and class activities.  The journal should also include ideas and musings about the ethnographic script that you will develop for presentation in the last few weeks of the semester.  Please keep copies of all these materials on a flash drive that you use for this course only.  When you turn in your journal for the last time at the end of the semester, it will include all of your fieldwork experiences and observations for the semester, as well as your discoveries/concerns/philosophical and ethical questions that were noted throughout the rehearsal process for your final performance.

 

20%     Performance of ethnography –a solo performance based on your fieldwork. 

The performance may include recorded as well as live materials.

 

20%     Final ethnographic script developed from your fieldwork experiences. 

This is the culmination of your semester’s work and will represent your best effort to represent the results of your fieldwork. This could be a stage script, a screenplay, or a combination of forms.  Your script may include observations, interviews, narratives, autobiographical moments, performative writing, pictures, images, music, video and audio recordings, etc.  The script should be written for ensemble performance.  The script should express what you would do if you had all the resources (performance space, budget, cast etc.) you desire to do justice to the community you’ve been working with.  We won’t be producing these, so the sky’s the limit!

 

Course Policies and Procedures:

 

Seminar Citizenship:   Everyone is expected and required to stay current with the readings as they come due and to be prepared to discuss readings in class.  You are expected to come prepared to pose & respond to discussion questions, articulate your positions on the readings – in short, to proactively contribute to the intellectual work of the class. We will use a colloquium format and all are expected to be present and participate with vigor and mutual respect.

Mechanical and Stylistic Competence:   Your papers should be error-free when you hand them in.  Eloquence and attention to detail is also encouraged.  Give your papers a thematic title - something besides “prospectus” etc. Make us want to read what's inside!  For all written assignments, students are required to use either the American Psychological Association (APA) or the Modern Language Association (MLA) style manual for documenting references.  I also recommend you use UC Berkeley's very useful Style Sheets for Citing Resources (Print & Electronic). All written work should be typewritten or word processed and double-spaced, with standard fonts and margins, footers and page numbers. 

For brainstorming and journaling sections of your fieldwork journal you can be more creative.  Here, try writing in a style that goes beyond academic – you can be more performative -  lyrical, poetic, creative.  You’ll be surprised at what you’ll be able to use in your final script if you really play with ways to articulate what you’re discovering and thinking through.

Academic honesty is expected and required. Academic dishonesty defrauds all those who depend on the integrity of University courses and is a serious offense covered by Section 41301, Title 5 of the California Administrative Code. This section of the Code is covered in the campus Student Conduct Code - also published in the University Catalog, Schedule of Classes, and the Student Handbook.  Any form of cheating or plagiarism will not be tolerated. Click here for definitions & examples of what your responsibilities are. Academic dishonesty is grounds for dismissal from the graduate program and disciplinary action by the university.

 

I’m happy to meet with you outside of class to provide guidance, be a sounding board, analyze process, etc..  If you can’t come in to office hours don’t hesitate to email me and we’ll make an appointment that works for both of us.  The work in class relies heavily on PROCESS, so be sure you use the collaboration and support available to you, in class and outside of class.

 

COMS 603 Home Page || Course Schedule || Course Newsgroup [WebCT] || email Dr. Logan


Last update: January 21, 2008