LVA2001 Staging Immigration
4 Intermediate Liberal Arts Credits
Migration, immigration, assimilation: these complex, charged, and multifaceted ideas are debated in political spheres, examined in scholarly discourse, and are featured daily in various media outlets and publications. These ideas, however, have also long captured the imaginations of artists and audiences alike, and the stories of those who have moved their families, their lives, and themselves to another country or continent have been central in the theatre, particularly in the United States, a nation of immigrants.
In this course, we will attempt to understand both the captivating power and the political potential of performance focused on immigrants and the immigrant experience. We will study a variety of theatrical productions, from plays, to musicals, to contemporary stand-up comedy and solo performance and examine the ways theatre artists consider and understand identity, prejudice, familial ties and loyalties, and notions of the American Dream. We will connect the interests and goals of theatre artists staging immigration 100 years ago to those artists working in 2020. Finally, we will create and perform original theatre pieces, inspired by the artists we study, focused on a pressing societal problem. The scholarly and experiential elements in this course will, hopefully, shift our notions of the profound journeys and undertakings by immigrants and illuminate new and crucial understandings of the immigrant experience unfolding in our world today.
Prerequisites: (FCI1000 or AHS1000) and (WRT1001or RHT1000)