Postgraduate - UnitAPR5025 - Researching performance

This unit entry is for students who completed this unit in 2015 only. For students planning to study the unit, please refer to the unit indexes in the the current edition of the Handbook. If you have any queries contact the managing faculty for your course or area of study.

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0 points, SCA Band 1, 0.000 EFTSL

Refer to the specific census and withdrawal dates for the semester(s) in which this unit is offered.

Level	Postgraduate
Faculty	Faculty of Arts
Organisational Unit	Centre for Theatre and Performance
Offered	Not offered in 2015
Coordinator(s)	Dr Stuart Grant

Synopsis

This unit aims to cover key issues involved in undertaking performance research. To that end, we will follow four main strands of enquiry. We will investigate a range of methodologies of researching performance. We will read and discuss important ideas in researching performance. We will canvass issues to do with making, studying, analysing, and reflecting on actual performances. And we will look at the ways other disciplines such as anthropology, sociology, history and philosophy, utilise ideas of performance and performativity to discuss and analyse topics in their discipline. Classes will take the form of seminar discussion. They will include presentations by academic staff on issues in researching performance and on making performances in a research context, discussions of readings and performances, and presentations by students on issues arising from the readings and performances.

Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this unit students should be able to:

Work with a range of methodological approaches to researching performance and be able to write about one or more of them succinctly;
Understand key ideas in researching performance and be able to discuss those ideas clearly and confidently;
Write on selected theoretical issues that are germane to contemporary research in theatre and performance;
Show how they would deploy one or more methodologies of researching performance in order to research a topic in theatre and/or performance;
Demonstrate how ideas of performance and performativity might be used to investigate issues beyond the sphere of theatre and performance;
Present a clear and cogent summary of the ideas of selected readings and be able to indicate matters of interest and concern for discussion.

Assessment

Within semester assessment: 100%

Workload requirements

6 x 4-hour seminars delivered three days per week across two weeks.
An equivalent amount of time (24 hours) of consultation time throughout the semester with PhD/MA supervisors or other appropriate academic staff concerning reading and preparation for the coursework in the context of the assessments.
96 hours of reading and writing throughout the semester in response for the set readings. Readings will be provided early in the semester to facilitate this process. This will ensure students are fully prepared to engage in discussions and seminars during the block period.

Chief examiner(s)

Dr Stuart Grant

Prohibitions

APR6025