Mar 28, 2024  
2017-2018 Academic Catalog 
    
2017-2018 Academic Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

THD 195-01 - Introductory Special Topic: Native American Performance: Playwrights + Mediamakers

4 credits (Spring)
Cross-listed as: HUM 195-01 . Cherokee lawyer and playwright Mary Kathryn Nagle connects performance with Native American policy and political reality, declaring “In a country where the Supreme Court continues to define us as ‘racially inferior,”heathens,’ and ‘savages,’ and in a country where redface remains a popular performance, the absence of our voices from the American stage constitutes nothing less than a constitutional crisis.” Nagle is one of the many prolific Native playwrights whose work deserve more attention from producers, publishers, and scholars–and one of many Native activists who also wage their battles through social media, launching for instance the hashtag #InsteadOfRedFace. From the podcast network Indian & Cowboy Media to the irreverent videos of the 1491s, to the music of Leanne Betasamosake Simpson, to the multimedia art of Sterlin Harjo and Mona Smith, to playwrights finding homes for their work on YouTube and/or incorporating multimedia into their plays, this course will examine works for both conventional stage and newer digital media venues. Students will also make digital and live media, specifically in collaboration with the new #InsteadOfRedFace Digital Commons.

Prerequisite: None.
Instructor: Shook