| Unit I: Introduction and Overview |
| 1-2 |
What is culture? And how do we identify culture and performance in American theater? A sharing of family traditions and the creation of "stereotypical" history of immigration to the United States. This unit will provide students with a general overview of basic concepts such as theater, movement, culture, diversity, and composition. |
Readings
 Schechner, Richard, ed. "What is Performance?" Performance Studies: An Introduction. New York: Routledge, 2002. pp. 1-21. ISBN: 9780415146210.
Viewings
Ethnic Notions by Marlon Riggs (1987). |
| Unit II: African American Theatrical Traditions |
| 3-6 |
What are African American traditions of theater? How do music and dance figure in the construction of African American experience on stage? How can we tell historical stories of African American scientists and engineers? In this unit, we will participate in the African American Living History Museum, a performance event that chronicles the lives of African American scientists and engineers. |
Readings
Jones, Lisa. "Combination Skin." Contemporary Plays by Women of Color. Edited by Kathy Perkins and Roberta Uno, New York: Routledge, 1996. ISBN: 9780415113786.
Viewings
For Colored Girls who have Committed Suicide/When the Rainbow is Enuf by Ntozake Shange ([1976] New York: Simon and Shuster, 1997). |
| Unit III: Asian American Theatrical Traditions |
| 7-12 |
How can theater express Asian American cultural heritage? What sorts of stories do Asian diaspora playwrights chose to tell? A consideration of David Henry Hwang’s M. Butterfly. |
Readings
Son, Diana. "R.A.W." Contemporary Plays by Women of Color.
Viewings
M. Butterfly by Hwang (1988, film, Cronenberg, 1993). |
| Unit IV: Native American and Latino/a and Chicano Theatrical Traditions |
| 13-18 |
How do Native American traditions of storytelling persist in the twenty-first century? What sorts of Chicano and Latino/a American theatrical traditions have emerged in the past century? A focus on the plays of Miguel Piñero. |
Readings
Gomez, Terry. "Intertribal." Contemporary Plays by Women of Color.
Theatre, Spiderwoman. "Sun Moon Feather." Contemporary Plays by Women of Color.
Agarin, Miguel, and Miguel Piñero, eds. "The Book of Genesis According to Saint Miguelito," "La Metadona Está Cabrona," "There is Nothing New in New York," "No Hay Nada Nuevo en Nueva York," "Runnin' Scared," "A Poem for Joey's Mami's Struggle," and "Seeking the Cause." In Nuyorican Poetry: An Anthology of Puerto Rican Words and Feelings. Edited by Miguel Algarín and Miguel Piñero, associate editor, Richard August; photographs by Gil Mendez, New York: William Morrow & Company, 1975. pp. 62-75. ISBN: 9780688029678.
Viewings
Piñero by Leon Ichaso (2001).
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| Unit V: Reaching Beyond Diversity |
| 19-22 |
How can we reach beyond the rubric of diversity to explore particular histories and theatrical methodologies? |
Readings
Donkin, Ellen. "Black Text, White Director: Issues of Race and Gender in Directing African American Drama." Upstaging Big Daddy. Edited by Ellen Donkin and Susan Clement, Ann Arbor: U of Michigan Press, 1993. pp. 79-87. ISBN: 9780472065035.
lê thi diem tháy. "The Bodies Between Us." The Color of Theater: Race, Culture, and Contemporary Perofrmance. Edited by Roberta Uno. New York: Continuum International Publishing Group, 2002. pp. 322-343. ISBN: 9780826456397.
Viewings
Fires in the Mirror by Smith (1993). |