Co-creating Equity and Justice: Student and Employee Partnerships for Racial Justice

The faculty/staff authors and current Bridgewater State University Undergraduate students: Jessie Barbosa, Ye Chen, Ruby Lila De La Rosa, Marvin Ezhan, Danielle Marie Galstian, Frank Iaquinta, Tashima Point du jour, Brian Owusu, Marina Smoske, Jovan Taylor; Bridgewater State University Alumni, Class of 2015: James Gouzias, Kasheida Hector, Julian Millan, Michael Molyneaux, Jamaal Rodney-Bonnette, share reflections on partnerships between campus staff, faculty and students to put on three specific social justice events designed to initiate discussion and raise awareness about racial justice

An Awfully Big Adventure - An Introduction

In summer 2015, with the support of a CARS Faculty and Librarian Research Grant, I traveled to London and New York City to research immersive theatre. Immersive theatre is a mode of performance in which audience members do not merely sit and watch a production, but become a part of it, as spectator-characters in the piece. Immersive techniques can range from an audience sharing space with actors, to individual audience members performing moments with actors in complete environments that engage all five senses. In spring 2016, students in BSU’s Theatre and Dance Department devised An Awfully Big Adventure, based on Peter Pan and the life of J.M. Barrie. This is the first time BSU students have explored this type of theatre. After a presentation about this work we will share a bit of the show with you as you travel to lunch. If an actor approaches you, please accept the invitation to An Awfully Big Adventure

Performance as Pedagogy and Practice

This panel by the Performance Studies Working Group explores performance as both pedagogy and practice across three disciplines – theater, music, and art. Each of the panelists is an artist, and each will discuss how “performance” fits into their artistic work as well as pedagogical practice. Each panelist will also offer a demonstration or participatory exercise aimed at demonstrating how they translate “performance” into a pedagogical practice of inquiry. How do we “perform” art and how does that relate to how we “perform” ourselves? Discussion among the panelists and with audience members will look for generalizable similarities as well as differences between different genres and forms. This panel is intended to be both exploratory and fun for audience members, and is conceived of as the “practical” counterpart to the “Performance Studies in Theory and Practice” panel also submitted by the Performance Studies Working Group