California State University, Northridge       
College of Arts, Media, and Communication
Department of Communication Studies

COMS 301: Performance, Language, & Cultural Studies
Spring 2010
Friday 2 - 4:45pm

Christie Logan, Ph.D.
office hours: W & F 12:30 -2, and by appointment

301 Home |301 Syllabus | WebCT Newsgroup & Chat   | email Dr. Logan

revised 3/17/2010 - changes & additions in red; reading presentation groups in red

DATE TOPIC
Reading / Assignment Due

Week 1:

1/22

 

Introduction / Overview of Course

Varieties and Contexts of Performance

*Note: Many online readings require Adobe Acrobat Reader: free download here

Info sheets

online: Performance Fan, adapted & elaborated by Christie Logan. *Print and bring this to class.
Week 2:

1/29		 Definitions & Processes:
Performance Theories and Methods
Bell - Chapters 1 & 2


Week 3:

2/5

 Textuality and Semiotics

Bell - Chapter 3
online: The Semiotics of Media

Oliver W., Angela L., Alexis A., Jamie C.

Week 4:

2/12

Eruption and Social Drama: Public Liminality

view When the Levees Broke

Bell - Chapter 4

online: "Spike Lee on Race, Politics, and Broken Levees," Listen to the interview here, aired on NPR's All Things Considered, 8/13/2006.

Katherine C., April S., Jesse C.

Week 5:

2/19

Performance, Power & Cultural Processes

Bell - Chapter 5

Joni L. Jones, "sista docta: Performance as Critique of the Academy," TDR 41, 2, Summer 1997

added 2/13: Randy Lewis, "Chieftans Write Musical History with 'San Patricio'" LA Times, 2/13/2010.

Montana G., Valentina D., Kamilah R., Brittany T.

Week 6:

2/26

 Performing Social Roles
Bell - Chapter 6

online: E.J. Westlake, "Friend Me if You Facebook: Generation Y and Performative Surveillance," TDR: The Drama Review 52:4, Winter 2008.

Carrie S., Monica I., Jonathan V., Noel K.
Week 7:

3/5

Performing Identity and Culture

Bell - Chapter 7
Ruth A., Benny A., Nhan N., Juhee K.

Bell - Chapter 9
Nick B., John B., Derrick M., Jason L.

Week 8:

3/12

Identity Performances

Identity Performances & papers due

Week 9:

3/19

Identity Performances ID Perf's continued

Week 10:

3/26

 Exam

Exam: Bring blue books.

*new: click here for assignment guidelines for the LA Ethnography project

Week 11:

4/2

Performing Ethnography

view Between Two Worlds

view Broken Circles

online:
Conquergood, "Performing as a Moral Act: Ethical Dimensions of the Ethnography of Performance," LIP April 1985.
Conquergood, "Rethinking Ethnography: Toward a Critical Cultural Politics,"Communication Monographs 58, June 1991.
Joni L. Jones, "The Self as Other: Creating the Role of Joni the Ethnographer for Broken Circles," TPQ 16, April 1996

Chabri S., Christiana M., Tiffany B.

Ethnography Prospectus due

week 12:

4/9

Spring Break 4/5 - 11

Performance West Festival 4/8-11

Week 13:

4/16

 

Public Space, Power
and
Everyday Performance

set performance ethnography groups

Aronstam:
Susan Willis, "Disney World: Public Use/Private State," Signs of Life in the USA, 4th ed. 2003

online:
*new:Christopher Hawthorne, Digital Video Runs a Screen on the Cityscape. LA Times, 1/24/2010.

Jon Goss, "The Built Environment and Social Theory," Professional Geographer 40, 4 (1988), 392-403

Stacia S., Lindsay A., Christina A.
Week 14:

4/23

 Ethnography groups

Furlough day for Dr. Logan -- groups workday

Week 15:
4/30

Resistant Performance and Social Change

view Couple in a Cage

Bell - Chapter 8

online: Coco Fusco, "The Other History of Intercultural Performance," TDR 38,1 (1994)

Alyssa G., Kristin A., Nabil S., Elizabeth P.
Week 16:
5/7
 Group Presentations

Group presentations
Week 17: 5/14

Final Exam
Period
3 - 5 pm

Group presentations completed

Individual Papers due
301 Home Course Syllabus WebCT Newsgroup & chatrooms

last update: March 17, 2010