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MUSC125
Social Movements and Performance
MUSC125 SP
Not Currently Offered
This course explores the relation of performance and
politics. It includes readings and videos about music,
dance, theater, and ritual, chosen from a wide variety of
cultures. We will ask such questions as: Why are music,
dance, theater, and ritual so often the sparks that ignite
social movements? How does performance create the feelings
of participation that relate people to groups? How does it
relate one group to another? How does it bridge the personal
and the political? Why does performance sometimes reinforce
structures of hierachy and power, and why does it sometimes
challenge them? To explore these questions we will look into
ideas about the nature of performance drawn from
anthropology, folklore, and ethnomusicology, as well as
sociological theory on social movements.
MAJOR READINGS
Vaclav Havel, "The Power of the Powerless"
Honor Ford-Smith, "Sistren's Women's Theatre"
Josh Gamson, "Silence, Death, and the Invisible Enemy: AIDS
Activism and Social Movement 'Newness'"
Reebee Garafalo, ROCKIN' THE BOAT: MASS MUSIC AND MASS
MOVEMENTS
Errol Hill, THE TRINIDADIAN CARNIVAL: MANDATE FOR A NATIONAL
THEATRE
Cynthia Novak, SHARING THE DANCE
Bernice Johnson Reagon, "Let the Church Sing 'Freedom'"
Victor Turner, "Betwixt and Between: The Liminal Period in
Rites de Passage:
Arturo Escobar and Sonia Alvarez, THE MAKING OF SOCIAL
MOVEMENTS IN LATIN AMERICA
EXAMINATIONS AND ASSIGNMENTS
Brief response papers to
selected readings; term paper and class presentation based
on individual or small-group research.
ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS and/or COMMENTS
Unless
preregistered students attend the first class meeting or
communicate directly with the instructor prior to the first
class, they will be dropped from the class list. NOTE:
Students must still submit a completed Drop/Add form to the
Registrar's Office.
COURSE FORMAT: Discussion
REGISTRATION INFORMATION
Level: UG Credit: 1.00
Gen Ed Area & Dept: HA MUSC
Prerequisites:
None
Last Updated on MAR-22-1999
Contact wesmaps@wesleyan.edu to
submit comments or suggestions.
Copyright Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut, 06459