Ampersand: Shakespeare's Globe: All the World's a Stage II

DRAMA 1192

Why-more than 400 years later-do we continue to read the works of William Shakespeare? Why do we continue to stage his plays, identify with his characters, and communicate our thoughts in his language? Why do his poems and plays retain their vibrancy and immediacy, even today? This course invites students to answer these questions by inhabiting Shakespeare's language from the inside and out-breathing in the words of his characters with creative and careful study, while moving out to fully engage the text in performance. Reading plays, watching films, listening to monologues, voicing dialogue, physically enacting fight scenes, and even navigating plots with joysticks, students will develop deep appreciation for the writer who is the original GOAT-the greatest of all time. In this two-semester course, we will read and study Shakespeare's plays in their historical context, learning about the original practices used in performance at both the Elizabethan and Jacobean court theatres as well as the public theatres on the South Bank of the Thames. We will also consider them as adaptable playscripts that have been rewritten over the past 400 years, reinterpreted at different times by different actors in different cultures the world over. Students will contribute to this performance repertoire with their own 21st-century interpretations, striding the stage of the reconstructed Globe Theatre in a capstone experience that concludes the course with a summer trip to London. If all the world's a stage, come be a player in it!
Course Attributes: EN H; AS HUM; FA HUM; AR HUM; AMP

Topics in Chinese Literature and Culture: Jingju (Beijing/Peking Opera)

DRAMA 4891

This course introduces students to the evolution of jingju from its inception to the present, examining developments in dramatic literature, theatrical performance, spectatorship and other areas of interest to the seminar members, as well as the way in which the development of jingju engages historical experience and interacts with significant social, political, and cultural issues. Readings include sources in theatre, literature, history, and art, as well as examining pertinent visual materials (slides, videos). Through the research, discussion, lectures and viewings in this seminar, it is expected that upon completion students will: 1) have a broad expertise in jingju theatre history, literature, and performance practice and be capable of teaching this knowledge at the college level; 2) can analyze jingju dramatic texts and theatrical productions with reference to stylistic qualities, theatrical conventions, musical system, historical context, and social and cultural circumstances and value systems; and 3) be capable of conducting independent research employing interdisciplinary approaches by drawing on the knowledge and theories in theatre studies, Chinese studies, gender studies, cultural studies, etc. Prerequisite: junior level or above or permission of instructor.
Course Attributes: EN S; AS LCD; AS SSC; FA HUM; AR HUM; UC CD

Topics in Literature: Drama Queens: Cleopatra in Elizabethan England

DRAMA 3524

Cleopatra, queen of the Nile, has become famous for her romantic liaisons, political maneuvering, and her death by snake bite. Yet Cleopatra was also a formidable military strategist, a powerful leader who studied medicine and spoke nearly a dozen languages. Most importantly, Cleopatra was the prototype for depicting strong women on the throne. This course will explore how Early Modern playwrights re-imagined Cleopatra in the Renaissance, a time which saw another strong queen, Elizabeth I, rise to power. We will pay special attention how these dramatists used Cleopatra to engage with issues of race, globalization, gender, history, and politics. Finally, we will think about how Shakespeare and his contemporaries analogized the exotic and sometimes scandalous Cleopatra with the virginal Queen Elizabeth, two women who mobilized the power of performance in order to assert female authority in their male-dominated societies. Readings may include works by Cicero, Lucan, Plutarch, and Virgil from antiquity; and plays by Marlowe, Mary Sidney, Daniel, Brandon, Elizabeth Cary, Fletcher, Dryden, and Shakespeare as well as the writings of Queen Elizabeth from the Renaissance. 3 short responses; midterm and final papers; and a presentation introducing one of the assigned readings. First-year and/or students with no prior knowledge of this topic are encouraged to enroll. Satisfies the Early Modern requirement.
Course Attributes: EN H; BU Hum; AS HUM; FA HUM; AR HUM; EL EM

Contemporary Comedy: Stand-up, Sketch and Improv

DRAMA 256

This class looks at contemporary American comedy, primarily in the form of the jokes, sets, personae, and oral history of American comedy from roughly 1950 to today. It views comedy through select historical context. Pioneering artists with vaudeville roots are introduced, the stand-up boom of the 1980s is presented as a shaping force in today's comedy business, and technological and economic shifts that exerted formative influence on the art form are examined.
Course Attributes: EN H; BU Hum; AS HUM

Shakespeare and Performance

DRAMA 4692

This course, which is open to both undergraduate and graduate students, connects performance and critical studies. No acting experience or training is required, as long as one is willing to try. Preexisting knowledge of the historical, political, and social dynamics of Shakespeare's world is not necessary, as long as one is willing to learn. Scenes and monologues read aloud and performed in class can be informed by critical "takes" on the world. And the physical, embodied, and tactile knowledge that one acquired by doing Shakespeare, makes us understand his plays in entirely new ways. Iambic pentameter is both an idea and a beating heart. Topics of study will include the performance of Shakespeare's plays in his own day, speaking Shakespeare's prose and verse, metaphor and other figures of speech, class relationships, gender difference and power, race, the queering of gender binaries, Shakespeare's creative use of his sources, and global Shakespeare. Assignments will address both dimensions of the course, including critical writing, as well as performance work on sonnets, monologues, and scenes. This course satisfies the prerequisite for the Shakespeare's Globe Study Abroad Program in London.
Course Attributes: AS HUM; EN H

Topics in Embodied Communication

DRAMA 4140

This course is about listening. We will begin by mediated and unmediated listening with the human auditory system and continue into an exploration of multi-modal listening, focusing on vibration and on somatic attention. We will work in the "studio," which will include a music studio, a dance studio, and the environment. Our investigation will include the study of sensing in more-than-human organisms as well as theoretical perspectives from sound studies, critical improvisation and history of science. The course will encourage the perspective that the practice of listening is a political act of tending to the invisible, the non-normative, and the incomplete.
Course Attributes: AS HUM; EN H

Thank you for registering for "Translation: Dramaturgy".  We look forward to seeing you November 17 - 19, 2022.

Registration is open until Sunday, November 6, 2022.

"Belly Dance" and Beyond: Popular and Folkloric Dances of the Middle East

DANCE AND SOMATIC MOVEMENT STUDIES 2020

This course will explore the myths, origins, and cultural significance of Middle Eastern dance. Students will be introduced to the foundations of the solo improvised dance form indigenous to the Arab world and broader Middle East (commonly known in the West as "belly dance"), along with other popular and folkloric dance styles from North Africa, the Levant, and the Arabian Gulf. Through this course, students will develop a more nuanced understanding of culture and society in the Middle East and appreciate dance as a form of embodied culture.
Course Attributes: UC CD

Introduction to Pilates

DANCE AND SOMATIC MOVEMENT STUDIES 208

This course offers an introduction to the Pilates Method mat repertoire, part of the method developed by movement pioneer Joseph Pilates. The mat repertoire focuses on core strengthening, spinal articulation and stabilization. The exercises increase strength and flexibility and work towards correcting asymmetries and chronic weaknesses to bring the body into a balanced, neutral alignment. Students will gain body awareness and an understanding of the principles of Pilates including: control, breath, flowing movement, precision, centering, stability, range of motion, and opposition. No previous training in Pilates is required. The instructor will offer modifications that address individual limitations. Readings will be assigned that address topics in Pilates as well as related topics in exercise science and functional anatomy. There are 2 short midterm quizzes and practical exam at the end of the semester. May be repeated one time for credit. This course is offered as Pass/Fail only, unless students are pursuing the Certificate in Somatic Studies; these students must enroll for a letter grade.
Course Attributes:

Topics in Stage Movement

DRAMA 340

Exploration of a variety of theatrical and movement concepts with emphasis on process rather than product. Concentrates on developing the expressive flexibility of the body and linking the imaginative impulse with physical movement. Preliminary work in relaxation and efficient self-use. Prerequisite: Drama 240E, or permission of instructor.
Course Attributes: EN H; BU Hum; AS HUM; FA HUM; AR HUM
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