Over the past twenty years, "the body" has become a popular subject of study across multiple disciplines, including anthropology, philosophy, women's/gender/sexuality studies, religious studies, and the growing field of performance studies. This graduate seminar pairs critical theory readings about embodiment (and its attendant phenomena, including corporeality, kinesthesia, emotions, the senses, etc) with investigation into how specific artists work out such ideas in performance. Identity categories often marked by the body, including race, gender, and sexuality, will be particularly important. For example, we will wrestle with how "the black dancing body" as a conceptual framework maps (and not) onto the material realities of African American dancers. In addition to discussion of texts, in-class work includes embodied and creative exercises as a way for students to apply theory to practice. Assignments deepen students' artistry, help them develop analytical writing and presenting skills, and prepare them for professional work in both performative and academic arenas.
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