HCS 5109 Politics of the Body in Motion
This course is an introduction to the field of performance studies, in which we discuss how bodies—both their kinesthetics and aesthetics—are read and politicized. Select topics in dance history intersect with social science and cultural anthropology as we study issues of power, visibility, and representation both on and off-stage. We pay particular attention to how dance as a form of embodied knowledge reflects and creates cultural values and identity, honoring movement both as a mirror to the culture that created it, and as an instigator of cultural change.