170532 UE Curating Diversity and Inclusion in Dance and Performing Arts (2022W)

The first part of the course is based on close readings of selected articles and book chapters related to the course's thematic sessions, discussions, analyses of selected case studies, and group discussions based on the literature on the subject and case studies from the dance and performing arts contexts.

The second part consists of preparing, researching, and writing the 3 smaller written assignments for this course. During the course, the students are required to contribute the following assignments:

1. Discussion questions and leadership: Each session 1 or more students will provide 3-4 relevant questions for one of the assigned compulsory readings of their choice (usually there will be 1 or 2 short articles per session). The questions should be posted online or e-mailed to the course instructor in written form one day before the class. Based on these questions, the discussion leader will then facilitate the discussion in the classroom with all the students.

Discussion leadership is a second part of the same assignment: during each seminar students assigned to one reading from the list will lead a discussion based on the text and their questions. The course instructor will lead the first discussion and before the next class, we will reflect on what it means to successfully lead a discussion, what skills are necessary and what is to be avoided. The aim of this task will be to learn how to lead a discussion and formulate relevant arguments.

2. Article summaries: Additionally, during the seminar, each student will provide a brief written summary of one of the assigned readings of their choice (different than the text they discussed in their discussion leadership assignment). Each summary should be one page long and should include the following information:

a. What is the subject of the article?
b. What is the thesis of the article?
c. What is the research method and material employed by the author?
d. What is the particular perspective of the author?
e. What is the particular conclusion of the article?

3. The final portion of the course is reserved for the final assignment: the final assignment should provide a concept version, a curatorial proposal describing a curated event / festival / an art show / podcast series, or another discursive format that the student would like to develop, having in mind the best practices of diversity, inclusion, anti-racism, anti-ableism, anti-discrimination as discussed during the course. This writing exercise aims to start developing a curatorial practice and promote curatorial thinking that next to ambitious and strong artistic programming consider diversity and inclusion as its core values. Relevant literature from the course should be included here. This assignment should be 5 or 6 pages long (A4), double-spaced, 12-point font text written in English, including relevant bibliography and references (around 1500 – 2000 words). Students are being encouraged to choose the topic of their project proposal already at the beginning of the course.

The final grade will be a composite of seminar discussion contributions, seminar attendance, short article summaries to be submitted during the seminar, and the curatorial proposal to be delivered at the end of the course. The percentages are as follows:

• curatorial proposal 35% of the final grade
• short 1-page article summaries 30% of the final grade
• discussion questions, leadership, and participation 35% of the final grade