What are the intersections of performance and politics in the Americas? In this class we will address performance (understood in relation to the performing arts but also as a lens for social analysis) from a hemispheric perspective, focusing on the intersection of performance and politics, as they are inflected by race and ethnicity, national contexts, language, migration, gender, sexuality, class, ability/disability, social movements, new technologies, and violence. The class will serve as an introduction to performance studies with a focus on Latin America, the Caribbean, and Latinx experience in the United States and Canada.

We will read texts by key performance studies scholars and artists such as Diana Taylor, David Román, Ramón Rivera-Servera, Marcela A. Fuentes, Laura G. Gutiérrez, Leticia Alvarado, Vivian Martínez Tabares, José Esteban Muñoz, Carmelita Tropicana, Coco Fusco, Guillermo Gómez-Peña, and Antonio Prieto Stambaugh, and integrate videos and films focusing on figures such as Diamela Eltit, Astrid Hadad, Jesusa Rodríguez, Regina José Galindo, Petrona de la Cruz Cruz, Teresa Hernández, Teresa Ralli, Ana Mendieta, Tania Bruguera, Las Yeguas del Apocalipsis (The Mares of the Apocalypse), Lukas Avendaño, Walter Mercado, Francis Alÿs, Arthur Aviles, Javier Cardona, Carlos Martiel, John Leguizamo, Wu Tsang, Awilda Rodríguez Lora, Macha Colón, Janpi Star, Pó Rodil, Cheril Linett, and Lido Pimienta. Class will be conducted in English. All readings will be available in English.