Simon Fraser University
Engaging the World

Course Outlines

Spring 2025 - SA 474 E100

Cultures, Politics and Performances (A) (4)

Class Number: 2600

Delivery Method: In Person

Overview

  • Course Times + Location:

    Jan 6 – Apr 9, 2025: Thu, 5:30–9:20 p.m.
    Vancouver

  • Instructor:

    Cristina Moretti
    cmorett1@sfu.ca
    Office Hours: By appointment Via: Zoom

  • Prerequisites:

    Minimum 72 units including SA 101 or SA 201W.

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

From intimate dramas of everyday life to multi-media staging of political events, performances of various kinds infuse social/cultural/political relations among people(s), shape understandings of pasts, and evoke visions of futures. We explore contemporary work that engages questions generated by anthropologists, performance studies scholars, and artists.

COURSE DETAILS:

In this course we will approach performance as a method for research and writing, and as a framework for thinking about culture and society. Our key questions will include: How does performance - from everyday enactments to the staging of larger events, public debates, and conflicts – play an integral part in people’s agency, social relations, and cultural and political practices? How does a performative lens help us observe, research, and write about power and resistance? And what critical and imaginative projects can we envision when combining sensory anthropology and anthropological studies of performance?

Assigned readings, class discussions, and exercises will center around three main themes. First, we will consider the role of performance for political power and social critique. Our readings will discuss public space as a complex performative arena and introduce us to practices of witnessing. Secondly, we will learn about performance as an ethnographic strategy and a framework for anthropological writing. Reviewing how anthropologists have used performance-based approaches to listen to and represent people’s stories, insights, and dilemmas will be our starting point for experimenting with our own writing. Thirdly, we will discuss how performances shape spaces and our embodied, multisensorial being in the world, and design small performances that we can share with the class.

Grading

  • Presentation and discussion of readings (in groups) 20%
  • Observation and performative writing exercise 25%
  • Reading responses/essays 40%
  • Attendance and participation 15%

NOTES:

Grading: Where a final exam is scheduled and the student does not write the exam or withdraws from the course before the deadline date, an N grade will be assigned. Unless otherwise specified on the course syllabus, all graded assignments for this course must be completed for a final grade other than N to be assigned. An N is considered as an F for the purposes of scholastic standing.

Grading System: The undergraduate course grading system is A+, A, A-, B+, B, B-, C+, C, C-, D, F, N (N standing indicates student did not complete course requirements). Intervals for the assignment of final letter grades based on course percentage grades are as follows:

A+ (95-100) | A (90-94) | A- (85-89) | B+ (80-84) | B (75-79) | B- (70-74) | C+ (65-69) | C (60-64) | C- (55-59) | D (50-54) | F (0-49) | N*
*N standing to indicate the student did not complete course requirements

Materials

REQUIRED READING:

Required Reading will be available from the SFU library and/or Canvas.


REQUIRED READING NOTES:

Your personalized Course Material list, including digital and physical textbooks, are available through the SFU Bookstore website by simply entering your Computing ID at: shop.sfu.ca/course-materials/my-personalized-course-materials.

Registrar Notes:

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: YOUR WORK, YOUR SUCCESS

SFU’s Academic Integrity website http://www.sfu.ca/students/academicintegrity.html is filled with information on what is meant by academic dishonesty, where you can find resources to help with your studies and the consequences of cheating. Check out the site for more information and videos that help explain the issues in plain English.

Each student is responsible for his or her conduct as it affects the university community. Academic dishonesty, in whatever form, is ultimately destructive of the values of the university. Furthermore, it is unfair and discouraging to the majority of students who pursue their studies honestly. Scholarly integrity is required of all members of the university. http://www.sfu.ca/policies/gazette/student/s10-01.html

RELIGIOUS ACCOMMODATION

Students with a faith background who may need accommodations during the term are encouraged to assess their needs as soon as possible and review the Multifaith religious accommodations website. The page outlines ways they begin working toward an accommodation and ensure solutions can be reached in a timely fashion.