Drama

Honors Seminar:
Performance and the State

Course image

Geographies/Topics
THEA-UT 801-001~ 4 Credits Date and Time: TBA
Professor Sebastián Calderón Bentin
Ssc7@nyu.edu

This course will explore the way governments draw from ritual, theater and performance to legitimate and perpetuate their political authority. Across different geographical locations and historical periods, we will trace different instances of states using theatricality and performance in order to enact power and manage populations. At the same time, we will also look at artists who have used theater and performance to address and question the state. Through an interdisciplinary engagement with critical texts we will trace how governments are not merely represented but actually constituted through performance: ceremonies, rituals, spectacles. Subtopics might include the anti-theatrical state, the King’s body, the art of government, crafting consent, hegemonic subversions, and media politics.

 

Application Instructions

Honors Seminars have rolling application that remain open until the Seminar is filled. 
Please provide the following information in the body of an email 

  1. Name / email address / student ID number / local telephone number / number of credits completed.
  2. A brief statement of interest in the specific Seminar.
  3. Attach to the email your best essay written for another theatre studies course. 
  4. To apply for a second Honors Seminar, include the title of the Seminar you have taken, the name of the instructor, and your grade.  

Send your application to the instructor of the Seminar with a copy to John Dietrich - john.dietrich@nyu.edu. Instructor email addresses are included in the seminar descriptions.

Selection Process
Instructors select students based on stated interest in the subject matter, writing sample, interest in research, and, when applicable, previous work.  

Notification
Notification of acceptance will be made by the end of the semester. Because individual registration dates occur before seminar acceptance dates, students are advised to register for an alternative 4-credit course that can be dropped once the student is admitted to a Seminar. 

Questions about the Honors Program can be addressed to the Director of the Honors Program, Professor Carol Martin - cm7@nyu.edu.