PRFM3603: Semester 1, 2021

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Units PRFM3603 Semester 1 2021 [Normal day]

Unit of study_

PRFM3603: Playing Politics

Semester 1, 2021 [Normal day] - Remote

Overview

We'll be exploring how performing artists make 'political' work but also how political processes themselves, from election campaigns to street protests, are becoming increasingly theatricalised. The unit involves practical workshops, analysis of performances and closely supervised group research.

Unit details and rules

Unit code	PRFM3603
Academic unit	Theatre and Performance Studies
Credit points	6
Prohibitions ?	PRFM3026 or PRFM3015
Prerequisites ?	12 credit points at 2000 level in Theatre and Performance Studies
Corequisites ?	None
Assumed knowledge ?	None
Available to study abroad and exchange students	Yes

Teaching staff

Coordinator	Paul Dwyer, paul.dwyer@sydney.edu.au
Lecturer(s)	Paul Dwyer, paul.dwyer@sydney.edu.au

Type	Description	Weight	Due	Length
Assignment	Individual Tutorial Paper arising from Group Research Meetings Analysis of the performative tactics of a politician or protest group	25%	Formal exam period Due date: 18 Jun 2021 at 23:59 Closing date: 25 Jun 2021	1000 words
Outcomes assessed:
Presentation	Response to Set Readings and Documentary Theatre Workshops 10 min. group-devised performance and 10 min. presentation on key readings	25%	Week 05 Due date: 29 Mar 2021 at 10:00 Closing date: 02 Apr 2021	Equivalent to 1000 words
Outcomes assessed:
Assignment	Analysis of Documentary Theatre Case Study A performance analysis essay to "road test" the arguments of Baz Kershaw	50%	Week 07 Due date: 23 Apr 2021 at 23:59 Closing date: 25 Jun 2021	2500 words
Outcomes assessed:
= group assignment ?

Assessment summary

Detailed information for each assessment can be found on Canvas.

Assessment criteria

The University awards common result grades, set out in the Coursework Policy 2014 (Schedule 1).

As a general guide, a High distinction indicates work of an exceptional standard, a Distinction a very high standard, a credit a good standard, and a pass an acceptable standard.

Result name	Mark range	Description
High distinction	85 - 100
Distinction	75 - 84
Credit	65 - 74
Pass	50 - 64
Fail	0 - 49	When you don’t meet the learning outcomes of the unit to a satisfactory standard.

For more information see sydney.edu.au/students/guide-to-grades.

For more information see guide to grades.

Late submission

In accordance with University policy, these penalties apply when written work is submitted after 11:59pm on the due date:

Deduction of 5% of the maximum mark for each calendar day after the due date.
After ten calendar days late, a mark of zero will be awarded.

Academic integrity

The Current Student website provides information on academic integrity and the resources available to all students. The University expects students and staff to act ethically and honestly and will treat all allegations of academic integrity breaches seriously.

We use similarity detection software to detect potential instances of plagiarism or other forms of academic integrity breach. If such matches indicate evidence of plagiarism or other forms of academic integrity breaches, your teacher is required to report your work for further investigation.

You may only use artificial intelligence and writing assistance tools in assessment tasks if you are permitted to by your unit coordinator, and if you do use them, you must also acknowledge this in your work, either in a footnote or an acknowledgement section.

Studiosity is permitted for postgraduate units unless otherwise indicated by the unit coordinator. The use of this service must be acknowledged in your submission.

Learning support

Simple extensions

If you encounter a problem submitting your work on time, you may be able to apply for an extension of five calendar days through a simple extension.  The application process will be different depending on the type of assessment and extensions cannot be granted for some assessment types like exams.

Special consideration

If exceptional circumstances mean you can’t complete an assessment, you need consideration for a longer period of time, or if you have essential commitments which impact your performance in an assessment, you may be eligible for special consideration or special arrangements.

Special consideration applications will not be affected by a simple extension application.

Using AI responsibly

Co-created with students, AI in Education includes lots of helpful examples of how students use generative AI tools to support their learning. It explains how generative AI works, the different tools available and how to use them responsibly and productively.

Weekly schedule

WK	Topic	Learning activity
Week 01	After Brecht: "Political Theatre" and the Quest for Efficacy	Seminar (3 hr)
Week 02	Intoducing Some Conventions of Documentary Theatre	Workshop (3 hr)
Week 03	Verbatim Theatre Practices	Workshop (3 hr)
Week 04	"Postmodern" and "Task-Based" Approcahes to Documentary	Workshop (3 hr)
Week 05	Performance Exchange: Presentations and Discussion of Short, Group-Devised Documentary Pieces	Workshop (3 hr)
Week 06	Revisting Fundamental Performance Analysis Skills	Seminar (3 hr)
Week 07	"The Street is the Stage": Political Performances Beyond the Confines of Institutionalised Theatre	Seminar (3 hr)
Week 08	The Re-Styling of Politics in the Era of "Performative Democracy"	Seminar (3 hr)
Week 09	Supervised group research session	Seminar (3 hr)
Week 10	Supervised group research session	Seminar (3 hr)
Week 11	Supervised group research session	Seminar (3 hr)
Week 12	Groups present overview of research-in-progress	Seminar (3 hr)
Week 13	Feedback Session on Group Research Projects and Advice re Final Assessment Task	Seminar (3 hr)

Attendance and class requirements

Attendance: According to Faculty Board Resolutions, students in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences are expected to attend 90% of their classes. If you attend less than 50% of classes, regardless of the reasons, you may be referred to the Examiner’s Board. The Examiner’s Board will decide whether you should pass or fail the unit of study if your attendance falls below this threshold.
Lecture recording: Most lectures (in recording-equipped venues) will be recorded and may be made available to students on the LMS. However, you should not rely on lecture recording to substitute your classroom learning experience.
Preparation: Students should commit to spend approximately three hours’ preparation time (reading, studying, homework, essays, etc.) for every hour of scheduled instruction.

Study commitment

Typically, there is a minimum expectation of 1.5-2 hours of student effort per week per credit point for units of study offered over a full semester. For a 6 credit point unit, this equates to roughly 120-150 hours of student effort in total.

Required readings

WEEK ONE

Kershaw, Baz. 1992. The Politics of Performance: Radical Theatre as Cultural Intervention. London and New York: Routledge. 1-40.

WEEK TWO

Brown, Paul (ed). 2010. Verbatim: Staging Memory and Community. Sydney: Currency Press. 2-21.

Martin, Carol. 2006. “Bodies of Evidence”. TDR: The Drama Review 50 (3): 8-15.

WEEK THREE

Reinelt, Janelle. 2009. “The Promise of Documentary”. In Alison Forsyth and Chris Megson (eds), Get Real: Documentary Theatre Past and Present. Houndmills, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. 6-23.

WEEK FOUR

Botham, Paola. 2008. “From Deconstruction to Reconstruction: A Habermasian Framework for Contemporary Political Theatre”. Contemporary Theatre Review 18 (3): 307-317.

WEEK FIVE

Burvill, Tom. 2008. “‘Politics Begins as Ethics’: Levinasian Ethics and Australian Performance Concerning Refugees”. Research in Drama Education: The Journal of Applied Theatre and Performance 13 (2): 233-243.

WEEK SIX

McAuley, Gay. 1998. “Performance Analysis: Theory and Practice”. About Performance 4: 1-12.

WEEK SEVEN

Dwyer, Paul. 2006. “Re-Embodying the Public Sphere: The Arts of Protest”. In Gay McAuley (ed.), Unstable Ground: Performance and the Politics of Place. Brussels: P.I.E. Peter Lang. 187-204.

WEEK EIGHT

Rai, Shirin. 2014. “Political Performance: A Framework for Analysing Democratic Politics”. Political Studies. [doi: 10.1111/1467-9248.12154]

ADDITIONAL READINGS WILL BE RECOMMENDED AFTER WEEK EIGHT, RESPONDING TO THE DIRECTION IN WHICH STUDENTS’ RESEARCH PROJECTS ARE HEADED.

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes are what students know, understand and are able to do on completion of a unit of study. They are aligned with the University's graduate qualities and are assessed as part of the curriculum.

At the completion of this unit, you should be able to:

LO1. understand the principles, and use the techniques, of some key practitioners in fields such as "applied theatre" or documentary theatre
LO2. understand performance theory relevant to the study of political performances and demonstrate extended performance analysis skills
LO3. develop an interdisciplinary research project in collaboration with fellow students, examining the performative strategies pursued by political parties and/or protest activists.

Graduate qualities

The graduate qualities are the qualities and skills that all University of Sydney graduates must demonstrate on successful completion of an award course. As a future Sydney graduate, the set of qualities have been designed to equip you for the contemporary world.

GQ1	Depth of disciplinary expertise Deep disciplinary expertise is the ability to integrate and rigorously apply knowledge, understanding and skills of a recognised discipline defined by scholarly activity, as well as familiarity with evolving practice of the discipline.
GQ2	Critical thinking and problem solving Critical thinking and problem solving are the questioning of ideas, evidence and assumptions in order to propose and evaluate hypotheses or alternative arguments before formulating a conclusion or a solution to an identified problem.
GQ3	Oral and written communication Effective communication, in both oral and written form, is the clear exchange of meaning in a manner that is appropriate to audience and context.
GQ4	Information and digital literacy Information and digital literacy is the ability to locate, interpret, evaluate, manage, adapt, integrate, create and convey information using appropriate resources, tools and strategies.
GQ5	Inventiveness Generating novel ideas and solutions.
GQ6	Cultural competence Cultural Competence is the ability to actively, ethically, respectfully, and successfully engage across and between cultures. In the Australian context, this includes and celebrates Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, knowledge systems, and a mature understanding of contemporary issues.
GQ7	Interdisciplinary effectiveness Interdisciplinary effectiveness is the integration and synthesis of multiple viewpoints and practices, working effectively across disciplinary boundaries.
GQ8	Integrated professional, ethical, and personal identity An integrated professional, ethical and personal identity is understanding the interaction between one’s personal and professional selves in an ethical context.
GQ9	Influence Engaging others in a process, idea or vision.

Outcome map

Learning outcomes	Graduate qualities
Learning outcomes

Responding to student feedback

This section outlines changes made to this unit following staff and student reviews.

The main thrust of this unit remains the same (following very positive feedback from the students who took it when it was last offered, in 2019). However, the practical workshop component has switched from an examination of the practice of Augusto Boal to an exploration of documentary theatre practices. These practices will be easier to explore in a "Covid Safe" way than the Boal-based workshop exercises.

Additional information

Work, health and safety

Please refer to current advice on the University of Sydney website concerning Covid Safety Protocols: https://www.sydney.edu.au/study/coronavirus-infection-university-of-sydney-advice.html

Disclaimer

The University reserves the right to amend units of study or no longer offer certain units, including where there are low enrolment numbers.

To help you understand common terms that we use at the University, we offer an online glossary.

Current students

Overview

Overview

Unit details and rules

Teaching staff

Assessment

Assessment

Assessment summary

Assessment criteria

Late submission

Academic integrity

Learning support

Learning support

Simple extensions

Special consideration

Using AI responsibly

Weekly schedule

Weekly schedule

Attendance and class requirements

Study commitment

Required readings

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes

Graduate qualities

Outcome map

Responding to student feedback

Responding to student feedback

Additional information

Additional information

Work, health and safety

Disclaimer

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