Theatre and Performance Studies Commons^™

“I’M Real I Thought I Told Ya”: Developing Critical Media Literacy Through U.S. Latinx Digital Media Representations, Solange T. Castellar

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This thesis explores how audiences engage with U.S. Latinx media representations through the practice of critical media literacy. I interrogate how media consumers construct critical media literacy through interacting with U.S. Latinx figures on digital media platforms, particularly on the social-media app, Twitter, and the user-generated video content platform, YouTube. Throughout this thesis, I argue that users on these platforms who engage with U.S. Latinx pop culture figures, like Jennifer Lopez and Belcalis Almanzar (Cardi B), read, digest, and comprehend a variety of multimedia images, texts, or videos, and that this engagement becomes an accessible form of critical media literacy, …

Kinesthetic Language: A Dialect Of Kinesics, Terrill Suzanne Corletto

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Human communication requires the disciplines regarding physical fitness, codified language, and the performing arts to overlap, and exist symbiotically. Within the realm of artistic performance, the three disciplines working together deliver a deliberate message in a way unique to performing artists. The general tendency to compartmentalize sports, communication, and the performing arts into their pigeonhole categories of Kinesiology, Linguistics, and Theatre Arts is impractical, particularly for performing artists simply because all of the disciplines are mutually dependent in the context of all kinesthetic communications.

The purpose of this paper is to define and discuss several concepts and the ways in …

Exploring A Qualitative Approach To Arts Advocacy And Evaluation, Lycette C. Belisle

Undergraduate Theses

The quantitative impact of the arts has become an increasingly important factor in determining the overall value of a project, and is often used to determine acceptance of submissions, public recognition and funding disbursement. This project evaluates current understandings of how the arts function within society, popular methods for determining the value of the arts and explores how qualitative reasoning can be utilized to communicate the value of supporting artistic endeavors. While placing a numerical value on the arts based on data collection can be important, this project will aim to evaluate the implications of relying so heavily on facts …

Managing Cosplay Performance: The Forms And Expectations Of Convention Roleplay, Isaac V. Price

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Costume play (i.e. cosplay) is a performance of fandom rife with rituals and communication practices. Cosplay roleplaying performances are cultural practices that reveal how cosplayers interact with one another and among non-cosplaying members of their fandoms. This study examines the expectations that cosplayers hold for roleplay, the forms of roleplay, and the ways in which roleplay can become an instigator of harassment. Through the lens of Face-Negotiation Theory, the author discusses how roleplay functions to maintain or threaten the public images of cosplayers and their audiences, and what strategies cosplayers implement to avoid the loss of face.

Baton Rouge Slam!: An Obituary For Summer 2016: A Critical Performance Ethnography Of Eclectic Truth Poetry Slam, Joshua Hamzehee

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This critical performance ethnography presents the theory, methodology, and practice surrounding the fieldwork, scripting, and performance of Baton Rouge SLAM!: An Obituary for Summer 2016. As participant-observer, director, and co-performer, I unpack social drama, performance ethnography, and slam culture by employing a lens rooted in critical race theory. Local poets permitted me to de- and re-contextualize their interviews into ensemble scenes and theatricalize their slam poems about the recent summer’s charged events. One year later, this involved and embodied process of ethnographic bricolage became the ensemble cast performance of Baton Rouge SLAM!: An Obituary for Summer 2016. Community members and …

The “Science” Of Story Structure, Diana Witt

Virginias Collegiate Honors Council Conference

Stories are immensely human. They help us learn and understand cultural and social contexts. The stories that we tell, see, and read have profound effects on our ideas and emotions, causing us to have visceral reactions. Stories are truly at the crux of how people relate to each other. In this talk, I will explore the necessary elements of stories and why they are effective. Storytellers across all mediums build plot and characters to make an audience care and draw them in. Authors and screenwriters have theorized about the main structures into which all stories fall. In modern media, story …

"Where Is My Attention?", Robin B. Levenson-Andrews

Proceedings of the New York State Communication Association

Attention is the key to all learning. Indeed, it is what will save our lives on a daily basis. In all my Communication courses, it is one of the first things I put forward as a question that students may ask of themselves as a check on their “internal considering.”

Philosopher/practitioner George Gurdjieff (1866-1949) called the constant rumble in our minds of random condemnations and re-imaginings of past events as “internal considering.” He felt it was detrimental to ourselves and our relationships with others; it is, I maintain, a constant “self considering” that takes us away from the present and …

Painted Nails: The Gender(Ed) Performance Of Queer Sexuality, Justin Rudnick

Communication Studies Department Publications

In this essay, I interrogate my own experiences performing my queer identity through my painted nails. I attest to the ways queer bodies might performatively challenge and/or reinforce rigid norms of sexuality through mundane performances of (gendered) identity. To accomplish this, I engage in an autoethnographic exploration of queer performativity. I recount and analyze a series of anecdotes that illustrate how performances of queer identity in everyday life are accomplished—and policed—in mundane situations. In turn, I reflexively investigate the ways in which these performances situate me within a nexus of aesthetic, embodied, and ethical social interaction and performative resistance. I …

El Artista Está En Línea: E-Performance En El Tiempo De Covid-19, Ezequiel N. González

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Esta investigación propone una lectura detallada y comparativa de varias e-performances creadas por el artista visual uruguayo Ernesto Rizzo y la performer argentina Susy Shock, trazando un corpus de trabajo creado durante la crisis de COVID-19 y compartido en Instagram desde finales de marzo a finales de mayo de 2020. Al centrarse en el giro digital del arte de performance debido a las particularidades de la cuarentena, esta investigación busca distinguir este momento de "e-performance", entendiendo cuáles serán sus ramificaciones para el/la artista y el arte de performance en general. Así, a través de una reflexión teórica sobre el terreno …

The Choreo-Story Workshops: Devising Body Narratives, Montana J. Smith

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This multi-methodological project analyzes the utility of the proposed performance method, the Choreo-Story, within the field of Performance Studies. The Choreo-Story is a movement-based performance method, mode of devising, and performance product. It is a performance tool that can be used to understand how embodiment and dance help individuals make sense of the many identities they perform. This method highlights the body as both a text and tool for storytelling. To analyze the Choreo-Story method, I use Kenneth Burke’s Dramatistic Approach to examine three performance acts that occurred in the HopKins Black Box theatre between 2016 and 2018: my …

The Times, They Were A-Changin': Exploring The Interstate Oratorical Contests Of The 1960s, R. Randolph Richardson, Kathy Brittain Richardson

National Forensic Journal

Since 1874, a handful of American college classrooms have hosted generations of students practicing the art of oratory. Throughout the intervening decades, students involved in the Interstate Oratory Contest have, to varying degrees, addressed the compelling social, political, economic and educational issues of their time. When one considers the shifting socio-political landscape of the 1960s, this decade seems a far cry from the rhetorical contexts that gave rise to speeches for the previous nine decades. Did stock issues give way to Woodstock issues? An analysis of the Interstate Oratory winning orations from the 1960s raises numerous questions. To what extent …

Volume 37 - Front Matter, Nfa Journal

National Forensic Journal

No abstract provided.

Listening Back: A Podcast About Encouraging Social Change Through Theatre Of The Past, Madison Rose

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

This CE/T explores the nature of theatre as a tool to encourage social change. Theatre is an important art form that can influence audiences into considering contemporary societal concerns and taking action. This capstone specifically addresses theatre prior to the 2000s as effective commentary on modern issues in America, such as police brutality, discrimination, reproductive rights, and religious hypocrisy. I have created a podcast as a resource for young dramaturgs and activists about existing and accessible plays that can be used to address important societal issues. This project is a culmination of my interest in theatre, history, communication and social …

1970-1979: Investigating The Interstate Oratorical Contest During The "Me Decade", Karen Morris

National Forensic Journal

The decade of the 1970s further entrenched the socially progressive values that came to the U.S. cultural forefront in the 1960s. Investing in such activities as the Women's Movement and Vietnam War protests, college students became increasingly vocal about social issues. Those speaking up on such topics included the interstate orators who crafted the IOC speeches of the 1970s. In order to analyze the speeches presented at the Interstate Oratorical Contest between 1970 and 1979, the first part of this paper will explore how this socially important historical time period influenced the speeches themselves. The second section will address the …

What We Value: Trends In Value Appeals Of Interstate Oratory Contest Final Round Speeches, Carson Kay, Eric Mishne

National Forensic Journal

Value appeals are crucial to persuasion. However, we wonder if forensic educators prioritize certain values. This content analysis examines the value appeals in the introductions of the three highest-placing persuasive speeches (N = 56) from the 1996-2016 Interstate Oratory Contests. Our two-decade comparison reveals that the diversity of values to which the finalists appealed decreased in the last decade. Drawing upon the Interstate Oratorical Association's historical context, Rokeach's (1973) value appeals, and Social Judgment Theory, we explain this trend and explore practical implications regarding exclusivity and judge bias, as well as methodological implications for future content analyses of value appeals.

1940 - 1949: Understanding The Interstate Oratorical Contest During And After World War Ii, Richard E. Paine

National Forensic Journal

The 1940s began shortly after the first salvos of World War II were fired. That war dominated the decade-for millions of lives touched or ended by the war, for those faced with the task of rebuilding when it ended, and even for the Interstate Oratorical Association. This paper examines the impact of the decade on the speeches presented at IOC and looks at patterns which appeared in the topics chosen, structures used, styles employed, and choice of supporting materials on which speakers relied. Attention is also paid to such logistical aspects of the contest as the tournament's continuing use of …

1990 - 1999: Examining How The Interstate Oratorical Contest Closed Out The 1900s, Judy Santacaterina, Harry Bodell, Jessica Bozeman

National Forensic Journal

This paper examines the top six speeches presented each year during the 1990s at the Interstate Oratorical Contest. Our purpose is to explore how these speeches reflected the political, social, economic and cultural climate of the time as well as the changes our discipline was experiencing in the final decade of the millennium.

Volume 37 - Editor's Note, Richard E. Paine, Emily M. Cramer

National Forensic Journal

No abstract provided.

The Inter-State Oratorical Contest In The 1800s: The Beginning Of Organized Collegiate Competitive Speaking, Lisa Roth

National Forensic Journal

The purpose of this article is to explore the beginnings of the Inter-State Oratorical Contest (IOC) and the Inter-State Oratorical Association (IOA) and to examine the characteristics of the Inter-State Oratorical speeches from 1874 to 1899. Through an analysis of the top two speeches from each of these years in regard to topic, evidence, organization, style, and delivery, I identify trends and strategies which appeared in competitive collegiate persuasive speaking in the late 1800s.

Volume 37 - Full Volume, Nfa Journal

National Forensic Journal

No abstract provided.

Editor's Introduction To The 4th Issue Of The Pto Journal, Mark Weinberg

Spect-actor: A Journal of Pedagogy & Theatre of the Oppressed

This brief note from the new editor acknowledges the accomplishments of the previous editor and provides an introduction to this issue of the journal pointing to both continuity and change.

Review Of Valeria Appel’S “The Theatre Of The Oppressed For Beginners”, Ola Kraszpulska

Spect-actor: A Journal of Pedagogy & Theatre of the Oppressed

A review of Valeria Appel’s self-published book “The Theatre of the Oppressed for Beginners”

Book Review Of Radical Doubt: The Joker System, After Boal, Ann Elizabeth Armstrong Phd

Spect-actor: A Journal of Pedagogy & Theatre of the Oppressed

This is a book review of Radical Doubt: The Joker System, After Boal by Mady Schutzman, published by Routledge 2019.

Moving Forward, Living Backward, Or Just Standing Still?: Newspaper Theatre, Critical Race Theory, And Commemorating The Wade-Braden Trial In Louisville, Kentucky, Amy Steiger

Spect-actor: A Journal of Pedagogy & Theatre of the Oppressed

This essay, with a link to the full group-devised script of "Moving Forward, Living Backward, or Just Standing Still?" describes how graduate students entering an MFA acting program devised a performance inspired by the WPA’s Living Newspapers and Boal’s Newspaper Theatre to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Wade-Braden housing case in Louisville, KY. Drawing on critical race theory, I argue that the process, together with the script itself, offers an example of several ways performance can be used to remember and re-imagine a community’s racial history and future. It commemorated the trial itself, creating a public reminder of Louisville’s …

Creating Talk & Texts: Taking The Classroom Into The Community, Yvonne J. Montoya, Vera Coleman, Robert Fitzpatrick, Kevin Cano, Alison Gervais, Kaylynn Mcabee, Devon Miller, Alec Portillos, Eliana Taylor

Spect-actor: A Journal of Pedagogy & Theatre of the Oppressed

This project report highlights a partnership among Communication & Rhetoric university members and staff and students from El Centro del Quinto Sol which is a community recreation center. We describe the context and background of our project, workshops that employ Theatre of the Oppressed (TO) techniques, and provide some reflections and pictures documenting this joint learning experience.

The ‘I Am…’ Experience: Social Justice Art From Process To Product, Billicia Charnelle Hines, Ras Michael Courtney

Spect-actor: A Journal of Pedagogy & Theatre of the Oppressed

Paulo Friere said, “We cannot enter the struggle as objects in order later to become subjects.” Freedom Players is one of the two ensembles within the Black Theatre and Dance Program at Wayne State University. As a group of young Detroit based artists met and interacted, challenges arose as they realized their birth was political. These artists explored how they can survive and thrive in a place where everything seems to be set up against them. As clashes built, their journey lead them on a path of discovery and renewal. The result was I Am…, a performance piece that illuminates …

Digital Role-Playing Games As Means For Dialogue And Change For Marginalized Teachers, Jonathan Mendels, Amit Schejter

Spect-actor: A Journal of Pedagogy & Theatre of the Oppressed

This study presents a theoretical model that incorporates the theories of Paulo Freire, Augusto Boal and Amartya Sen and uses their ideas to create an innovative digital role-playing game for teachers on ‘To-Be-Education,’ a platform originally designed for teacher-student role-playing . We then demonstrate how Sen’s ‘capabilities approach’, Freire’s ‘pedagogy of hope’ and Boal’s ‘theatre of the oppressed’ are adapted to tools of empowerment for Arab-Israeli teachers, who belong to a community marginalized by State policies. The teachers design their own games and base the scenarios on their own real educational and professional dilemmas. They then re-enact these situations to …

The Teaching Of English In Lebanese Classrooms: A Critical Look At The Dominant Curricula And Practices, Nadia Bhuiyan

Spect-actor: A Journal of Pedagogy & Theatre of the Oppressed

Despite proclaimed attempts at post-colonial curricula, I argue that the teaching of English in Lebanon is a pronounced example of the deep-seated perpetuation of colonial privilege vis-à-vis curricular choices. To counter this cycle of privilege, I call for the application of culturally relevant pedagogy in English classrooms as a step in the direction of liberatory curricular reform in Lebanon. Culturally relevant pedagogy (CRP) attempts to use students’ cultural competence in an empowering manner to help them achieve academic success. This article examines the use of the imposed curriculum in one English for Academic Purposes classroom in Lebanon, followed by the …

Ua12/2/2 2019 Talisman: Balance, Wku Student Affairs

WKU Administration Documents

2019 Talisman yearbook.

• Mohr, Olivia. Balance
• Lunte, Hailee. That Warm Feeling Autumn Took from Me
• Dozer, Claire. Mother Load – Savannah Ranney
• Hubbs, Annalee. Tap After Hours – Dance
• Lancaster, Emily. Opposites Attract – Maddie Rediker & Cameron Blankenship
• Jones, Sydney. Delving into the Dirty – Taylor Gossage, Lion’s Den
• Chu, Phi. Snow Song
• Gordon, Zora. Spells & Spirit – Kristen Dalby, Witchcraft
• Powers, Noah. What is Left – Kelly Meredith, Identity Theft
• Aklilu, Bethel. Uprooting – International Students
• Steffey, Raegan. The Dirty Art Kids
• Dieudonne, Nadia. Self Starteres – Entrepreneurs
• Bass, Morgan. Young & Partisan – Politics
• Powers, Noah. …

Complete Volume (43)

Communication and Theater Association of Minnesota Journal

Complete digitized volume (volume 43) of Communication and Theater Association of Minnesota Journal.