New Course: Staging Science

THPERF 200
Staging Science: Embodying Knowledge Expression in the Science

This course explores where science and theatre meet. From the anatomical theatre of the 1700s, to the rigour and craft of laboratory experimentation, to the high stakes public communication of science today, theatre and performance have always been an important part of scientific processes. The objective of this course is to bring students new perspectives on scientific knowledge, while building a set of practical, collaborative, and embodied performance skills. Conceptually, students will learn about past, present and futures of science from humanistic and social scientific perspectives, articulated by plays; history, philosophy, and sociology of science; and performance studies texts. They will consider how science resembles an art and a craft, and integrate models for scientific knowledge expression from the arts. Practically, students will explore voice and movement while considering the implications of who is speaking, researching, interpreting, and learning scientific knowledge. Students will explore staging and assembling performances while experimenting with how media (here entailing materials, objects, stages, bodies, technology, and relationships between audience and performer) matter for seeking and expressing knowledge. The course encourages students to explore the contexts, practices, and materials of scientific knowledge dramaturgically.