Learning Objective

Upon completion of this course, students will be able to:
1. Understand key theories of identity and performativity from both historical and contemporary perspectives.
2. Critically analyze how various social, cultural, and political contexts shape the construction and performance of identity.
3. Engage thoughtfully with discussions surrounding the role of identity in performance, in particular how this pertains to our lives as artists today.
4. Present a final performance which engages with these themes.

Course Content
An artist takes on the role of a performer the second they get on stage. For some, this means augmenting their pre-existing self. For others, it is crafting a new identity entirely. Still others choose to shift between the two, blurring the lines between performance and reality. What does it mean to ‘perform an identity’, and how can we as artists make intentional choices about performance practice?

Through the duration of this course, students will examine how identities are constructed and enacted within different social, cultural, and historical contexts. They will apply this understanding to analyses of various artists across a spectrum of mediums (including but not limited to: music, text, theater, performance art) to explore how different expressions of identity impacts performance. Through the lens of performance theory, students will examine topics such as: How do artistic roles differ from those of daily life? What goes into the cultivation of a persona? How much of ‘ourselves’ do we bring into performance? How do identifiers such as race, nationality, age, gender, and sexuality impact performance practice? What does it mean to perform works written by/for another individual? What is the difference between public and private personas, and how do our digital identities inform this?

Ultimately, students will gain a further understanding of their role as artists (be it performer, composer, arranger, curator, etc.) and how their own identity informs this. They will use this knowledge to develop and present a final performance project open to the public at Splendor.