124220 SE Cultural and Media Studies Seminar (2021S)

The outbreak of COVID-19 has had an unprecedented impact on the arts sector. Due to its heightened financial dependence on audience participation, the cultural sector in the UK has been severely affected by the lockdown and the necessity of physical distancing. This moment of crisis, however, has also been approached as a platform for innovation, as a motor for creativity and heightened improvisation, most particularly since the theatre industry has had to reinvent itself in order to maintain an economically feasible position. Of course, such endeavours have been under way even in the pre-COVID-19 times.

In this seminar, students will become acquainted with exciting new developments in this area and will have a chance to watch and experience online theatre while also drawing on its more traditional forms; they will become familiar with central theoretical concepts and develop necessary methods to individually study (online) theatre. Please be aware that we will consider theatre as a complex cultural practice and not only as a written dramatic text.

Aimed at MA students and advanced BA students, the objective of this course is to develop students' theoretical and methodological competences in order to conduct independent academic work. Furthermore, the course is intended to develop the students' ability to present the results of their research in oral and written form.

CMS SE Going Viral is a digital learning course with synchronous and asynchronous elements. Methods include discussions, team and group work units, individual work, input sessions.