Syllabus

Please check this online syllabus often. Any changes to assignments or due dates will be posted here. Depending on the circumstances, I may send an accompanying email announcing updates to the syllabus, but you should not rely on receiving.

By now, you’re used to be hearing folks tell you be flexible, but nevertheless, I’ll say it again. Be flexible. Under normal circumstances I’ve been known to tweak a bit as the course unfolds in order to better fit the needs of the particular class. This semester we have to additionally account for the facts that 1) at any point in the semester we have to move to a completely remote format; 2) at any point of the semester one or more of your classmates may need to zoom in to the class from their dorms or off campus residence due to be required to self-isolate/quarantine; 3) the professor may be required to self-isolate and thus will thus move the class to a hybrid format. I have designed the syllabus to fairly adaptable to a variety of virtual and in-person formats. However it’s impossible to plan for every outcome, and depending on how events unfold, I may need to make adjustments to the assignment requirements and/or due dates. Know that whatever changes I make will be in the service of accessibility, feasibility, and continuity. If I add a reading that seems more conducive to a remote discussion (i.e. a short story that accompanies a film), I will also cut another assignment in order to ensure there is no increase in the expected work load.

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Date

Readings

Notes

9/1

What is Performance?

Watch: “Childish Gambino – This is America (Official Video)” YouTube.com posted by Childish Gambino 3.5.18. Accessed 8.27.20. Childish Gambino.

Watch: “Beyonce – Formation,” YouTube.com. Posted by Beyonce. 12.9.16. Accessed 8.27.20.

Read: Madison, Soyini D. “Forward.” Black Performance Theory. Eds. Thomas F. DeFrantz and Anita Gonzales. Durham, NC: Duke UP, 2014.

First Day

9/8

Read: Sassafrass, Cypress & Indigo by Ntozake Shange

Read: Through page 75. (Through the end of the italicized letter addressed “My Littlest Angel, Indigo.“)

9/10

Read: Sassafrass, Cypress & Indigo by Ntozake Shange At least through page 153 (Through the end of the italicized letter that ends with “. . . placing you with a fine ballet company in New York City. Lovingly, Mama.”)

9/15

Read: Sassafrass, Cypress & Indigo by Ntozake Shange

9/17

Read: Sassafrass, Cypress & Indigo by Ntozake Shange

9/22

Read: Sassafrass, Cypress & Indigo by Ntozake Shange

Post 1: A, B, C

9/24

Read: Sassafrass, Cypress & Indigo by Ntozake Shange

10/1

“Bodies on the Line” Chapter in Goldman, Danielle. I Want to Be Ready.

Read: Goldman, Danielle. “Sound Gestures.” Women and Performance 17:2 (2007): 123-138.

Post 2: A

10/6

Read: Color Struck by Zora Neale Hurston in Fire!!

10/8

Read: Color Struck by Zora Neale Hurston in Fire!!

Read: Richards, Sandra. “Writing the Absent Potential.” Performativity and Performance. Eds. Andrew Parker and Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick.

Post 2: B

10/13

No Class

10/15

Post 2: C

Midterm Journal AssessmentDue Sunday 10/18/20 by 5 pm

10/20

Read/Listen/Watch: “Deep and Far Out: AfroFuturist Performance” Multimedia Packet

Read: “The Space Traders” by Derrick Bell

Watch:  “The Space Traders” Cosmic Slop

Listen to James Brown “Get Down”; Curtis Mayfield “Move on Up” and Kanye West “Touch the Sky”

Post 3: A

10/22

Read Sun Ra Poetry (a selection) + Brent Hayes Edward’s essay

Watch and listen to “Space is the Place” film– link to the film is in the “Deep and Far Out” packet.

10/27

Post 3: B

10/29

Read: Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs

Project Proposal Due by 11/1

11/3

Read: Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs

Post 3: C

11/5

Read: Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs

11/10

Read: Harriet by Lydia Diamond

Post 4: A

11/12

Read: Harriet by Lydia Diamond

11/17

Watch: The Fits (streaming on Amazon Prime)

Post 4: B

11/19

Watch: The Fits (streaming on Amazon Prime)

Project Check-In Due

11/24

Watch: The Fits / Project Check-In/Flex Day

11/26

Thanksgiving – No Class

12/1

Watch/Listen: 3 Episodes “Value”; “B.A.N.” & “Juneteenth” of Atlanta + Beyonce’s “Diva”; “Upgrade”; “Grown Woman”; “APES**T The Carters” ; first two minutes of “Haunted” ; “Already”; and “Beyonce out dancing her dancers for 11 minutes and 36 seconds straight.”

Post 4: C

Project Check In #2

12/3

12/8

Presentation Day

12/10

Presentation Day

12/11

Under Grad Classes End

Outstanding blog posts & comments due

12/12-12/13

Study Days

12/13

Last Day to Submit Semester (aka non finals) work.

Final Journal Assessments Due 12.13 (midnight)

12/14

Start of Finals

Final Projects Due 12/14 (midnight)

12/14-12/19

Exam Week

Final Project Reflection / Assessment Sheet Due 12/16

EVAL 1 XC & EVAL 2 XC Due 12/17 by 9:00am