In this transformative time, when politics on the national level is fractured by mistrust and factionalism, local government meetings remain sites of direct democracy and creative possibility. Is Politics a Performance? looks at the theatricality of government meetings, how we participate in them (or don’t) and who plays which roles. The course offers a creative, hands-on introduction to interdisciplinary research, a chance to mix artistic process with ethnographic inquiry, and first-hand experiences of how local democracy works (or doesn’t).
Our guiding questions include:
- How do we understand the rules and structures by which our democracy functions (or doesn’t)?
- Why study civic participation and what can we learn from it?
- Why are local government meetings structured the way they are?
- Why are the rooms they take place in designed the way they are and placed where they are?- How can tools of theater help us understand political power and rhetoric?
- How can the tools of sociology, philosophy and history help us make theater?
Using tools from sociology, philosophy, civics and theater, we will visit government meetings in Princeton and surrounding communities, read case studies theory, and create a final project together that asks our peers and colleagues to perform democracy.
At the end of the course, you will know how to work with Princeton community members to participate more fully in civic life, how to write a better scholarly paper, how to integrate different humanities disciplines into a shared pursuit, and how to work in small and larger group collaborations. You will leave with the ability to deploy this knowledge toward future scholarly and artistic projects.
This course treats everyone’s experiences of politics, government, live performance, and scholarship as assets to our intellectual growth. Your inventiveness, your civic pride or mistrust, your boredom, your policy experience; all are welcome here. Our goal is to teach each other about creative civic power.
Distribution Area: LA or SA
Other Requirements
Open to first year undergraduates only.
