TP5001 - Arguments for Theatre and Performance

Sessions will address different areas of research and may be led by different members of staff, allowing you an opportunity to engage directly with world leading researchers and active research projects. In each session, the lecturer will share with you and help you to understand some key ideas and concepts relating to different kinds of theatre and performance practice. The lectures will be delivered in varied ways; you will not only be listening to lecturers but also asked to try out ideas, to watch pieces of film and respond to a range of questions and provocations. It is an environment that encourages dialogue and debate, informed by your engagement with texts that we will look at on the course. Seminars consist of focused group discussions with a tutor, often framed by a presentation or lecture delivered by the tutor, where there is even more emphasis on your contributions to discussions and the development of ideas through debate and the sharing of ideas.. The use of the e-learning portal (Blackboard) will be a key feature of the module; here you will find regularly updated course materials and readings which will be updated regularly throughout the year.

Your learning is supported in a number of ways throughout the module. The classes themselves are structured in a way which is responsive to your needs; lecturers will explore ideas with you and ask you to affirm your understanding of them, and you will be given tasks to respond to in classes. Lecturers will provide feedback on these tasks to help you to measure for yourself your own progress on the module. A series of research materials will be selected for you to read/view/listen to which will help you to navigate your way through the module, and these materials will be directly spoken to in classes so that your research is supported.

The module also incorporates a formative oral presentation which gives you the opportunity to practice and hone your academic skills in response to feedback which will be given to you by lecturers.

Information and resources will be available to you on Blackboard and the 'Reading List' contains links to websites and online video material which can help you develop appropriate knowledge and understanding.

Written assessment feedback will be provided within 20 working days of summative assignment submission. Access to library facilities is available 24-7 all year round.

All modules at Northumbria include a range of reading materials that students are expected to engage with. The reading list for this module can be found at: http://readinglists.northumbria.ac.uk
(Reading List service online guide for academic staff this containing contact details for the Reading List team – http://library.northumbria.ac.uk/readinglists)

Knowledge & Understanding:
? Identify, critique and argue the critical value of select arguments in terms of theatre and performance aesthetics, politics, and cultural differences.

Intellectual / Professional skills & abilities:
? Demonstrate an ability to construct reasoned arguments about the relevance of theatre and performance today.

Personal Values Attributes (Global / Cultural awareness, Ethics, Curiosity) (PVA):
? Demonstrate a readiness to work as a team to share complex ideas without easy solutions.

Formative
Oral presentation (c. 10 minutes). In small groups, you will deliver a presentation based on one of the topics from the lecture series; questions will be provided by the tutor or you may choose your own in consultation with the tutor. This will introduce the subject for the class and draw out an aspect of that topic to open it up for class discussion. You will receive feedback on this work orally from staff and your peers

Summative
Essay (2500 words) (100%) Responding to questions/topics set by the tutor or (in consultation with your tutor) responding to a particular area of your own interest, you will craft an essay that is fully researched, evidenced, argued and exemplified.

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In this module you will confront the social, critical, and ethical ‘challenges’ that theatre and performance makers face in the 21st century. Through a series of lectures and seminars, you will be provided with examples of critical arguments that allow you to consider theatre and performance from plural and sometimes competing perspectives. The overall aim is to give you a grounding in developing your own independent arguments on difficult, challenging, or ethically complex subjects such as class and equality, feminisms, postcolonialism, and climate justice through arguments drawn from frameworks such as cultural materialism, doughnut economics, Global North philosophies (universalism, liberalism, poststructuralism), Global South philosophies (pluriversal thinking, co-presence, rasa theory), and queer radicalism. Sessions will be delivered by research active staff at the forefront of innovative research in theatre and performance internationally, mapping the key debates in the discipline today.