Key Links

• Current syllabus (Not currently updated with new dates)
• NEW (and improved!):Zoom link for virtual classes: Sept. 13 - 22
• NEW (and improved!): Automatically generated Zoom recordings of remote classes
• NEW: Readings page
• Tier 2 Writing Intensive Syllabus Supplement (section 02)
• Student Resource Sheet
• Source Citation Guide
• Slides from class (under Files)
• Theatre Research Resources at Tulane.

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Theatre 4710 – Foundations of Theatre History – Fall 2021

 Time and Place: M/W/F 11:00 – 11:50, Mintz (Hillel) 2                            Professor: Dr. Victor Holtcamp, PhD      

Student Hours: Mondays, 12:30 – 2:00pm and by appointment, McWilliams courtyard

Office Location: McWilliams 204            Office Phone: 504.314.7753      E-mail: vholtcamp@tulane.edu

 

The Big Ideas: Why does theatre, especially though by no means exclusively Western theatre, look the way that it does? What are the roots of theatrical traditions and practices? How do plays reflect their cultural contexts? In this class we’ll be looking at a wide swath of dramatic activity, both chronologically and geographically, and seeing how the idea of people pretending to be other people in front of yet other people – often who pay to be there and are often sitting in a dark room staring at one fixed location – comes into being and is used in a variety of times and places.

Our primary focus is the years 500 BCE to 1800 CE, and we’ll largely be looking at text-based performed narrative. Despite the chronological and geographical gulf that separates us from much of this material, it is important to remember that this history and literature is still being discovered and reconstructed. Many of the societies we’ll be looking at were deeply inequitable in terms of access to opportunities of all kinds, to say nothing of making theatre, and this inequity has, at times, been compounded by the conscious choice of historians and artists. In addition to a focus on the texts themselves, we’ll spend some time talking about how the history we’re looking at has been and continues to be made, with new generations of increasingly diverse scholars/practitioners – hopefully including yourselves – finding new significance and relevance in more familiar pieces and bringing back works that historically have not received as much attention.

Theatre often invites our whole selves to be present when we make or receive performance, and we will embrace this same sensibility in the classroom. All of us bring different levels of familiarity and experience to everything we do, and I encourage you to allow these works to speak to your individual multiplicities. Performance, in some form or another, is one of the closest things we have to a universal human activity. These works are part of this larger history of performative activity that all of us, everywhere, have a stake and claim to.

 

Course Goals

By the end of the course students should be able to:

• Describe, analyze, and contextualize significant pieces, figures, and events from the course
• Illustrate connections and lines of influence across plays and periods
• Conduct self-directed research and analysis and share verbally and in written form

 

Program Objectives (Theatre) addressed by this course:

• Identify and contextualize influential theatrical traditions, styles, methodologies, and texts.
• Demonstrate the ability to function effectively as part of a collaborative process.

 

NTC Objectives addressed by this course:

• Interpret literary, philosophical, historical, and artistic texts. (Textual and Historical Perspectives)
• Demonstrate knowledge of the appropriate historical contexts for the course material. (Textual and Historical Perspectives)
• Analyze the beliefs, history, social experiences, social structures, artistic or literary expressions, and/or traditions of one or more cultures or societies located outside the United States. (Global Perspectives)

• Demonstrate an evidence-based understanding of world events. (Global Perspectives)

 

Texts: The Norton Anthology of Drama, Volume I (Antiquity Through the Eighteenth Century), Gainor, J. Ellen, et. al. editors. In addition: Aeschylus: The Oresteia; Shakespeare: Macbeth; other readings available via Canvas.

 

Mainstage Theatre Productions:	Other Dept. Productions:
Trouble in Mind: Sept. 3 – Oct. 3 (Dixon Theatre)	Above the Oaks: Oct. 28 - 30
Eclipsed: Nov. 9 – 14, Lupin Theatre	Young Performers: Dec. 8 - 10

 

Evaluation
Attendance and Participation: 5%	Attendance and active engagement at all class sessions is expected, and non-attendance and/or participation will impact negatively on your final grade. Students are allowed three (3) absences, after which your final grade may be lowered by 1/3 (e.g. from a B+ to a B) for each subsequent absence. Habitual tardiness will also negatively impact your grade.
Reading responses: 15%	You will be responsible for completing a reading response on Canvas prior to our weekly discussion days. Due dates are normally Thursday evenings (see Canvas for details). While no late responses will be accepted the lowest grade will be dropped.
Quizzes: 15%	Every three weeks (or so) there will be a largely multiple-choice quiz on the previous section’s material. This will give you a chance to check in on the material. See Canvas for details. Quizzes may be retaken to improve your grade.
Discussion Lead: 10%	You and a partner (or partners) will be responsible for leading the class discussion on a given day. See full guide posted on Canvas and handed out in class for details.
Portfolio projects: 25% (10% for first drafts, 15% for rewrite)	There are four project prompts required over the course of the semester, with one prompt to be rewritten. Assignment information is posted on Canvas. Note that Monday, Nov. 15 is “Portfolio Sharing Day” where we’ll get a chance to hear what folks have been working on over the course of the semester. [Writing Intensive see additional sheet.]
Mini-Masterpiece Group Project: 15%	You will be assigned a group to work with on crafting a five-minute version of one of the plays we have read over the course of the semester. Performances are currently scheduled for Friday, Nov. 12th. A handout will explain the project in more detail.
Final Essay Exam 15%	In lieu of an in-class exam, there will be an essay prompt that will ask you to pull together material from throughout the class. This will be due on the day set aside for our final exam.

 

Grading scale:
93 – 100 = A, 90 – 92 = A-, 87 – 89 = B+, 83 – 86 = B, 80 – 82 = B-, 77 – 79 = C+, 73 – 76 = C, 70 – 72 = C-, 67 – 69 = D+, 63 – 66 = D, 60 – 62 = D-,  < 60 = F

 

Laptop/Electronics Policy: Laptops may be used only for notetaking purposes during class time unless otherwise specified. I encourage you to put these devices away during our designated discussion times, so that you can be more fully present with your classmates.

Code of Academic Conduct: The Code of Academic Conduct applies to all undergraduate students, full-time and part-time, in Tulane University. Tulane University expects and requires behavior compatible with its high standards of scholarship. By accepting admission to the university, a student accepts its regulations (i.e., Code of Academic Conduct and Code of Student Conduct) and acknowledges the right of the university to take disciplinary action, including suspension or expulsion, for conduct judged unsatisfactory or disruptive. [Note: Any and all COVID requirements mandated by the university – whether currently in place at the beginning of the semester or implemented during the term – fall under the adherence to the Student Code of Conduct, and failure to comply will put the student in violation and subject to sanctions.]

Religious accommodation policy: Per Tulane’s religious accommodation policy, I will make every reasonable effort to ensure that students are able to observe religious holidays without jeopardizing their ability to fulfill their academic obligations. Excused absences do not relieve the student from the responsibility for any course work required during the period of absence. Students should notify me within the first two weeks of the semester about their intent to observe any holidays that fall on a class day or on the day of the final exam.

 

Class Outline Note: For all scripts in the anthology, please read the introductory materials along with the play itself NOT YET UPDATED POST-IDA - Course summary below has most current dates
Day	Topics	Reading
Mon, Aug. 23	Big questions, syllabus, and an old, old story	M:	-
Wed, Aug. 25	Who are we and some text analysis	W:	-
Fri, Aug. 27	Discussion	F:	“Crashing Aristotle: Some points on text analysis”*
Mon, Aug. 30	Before (and after) Greece	M:	-
Wed, Sep. 1	Tragedy and tragedians	W:	The Oresteia† (Aeschylus, 458 BCE)
Fri, Sep. 3	Discussion	F:	[TA Portfolio Project Due]
Mon, Sep. 6	LABOR DAY – NO CLASSES	M:	The Bacchae (Euripides, 406 BCE)
Wed, Sep. 8	Greek Comedy: Old and New	W:	Lysistrata (Aristophanes, 411 BCE) & Old Cantankerous (Menander, c.320 BCE)*
Fri, Sep. 10	Discussion	F:	-
Mon, Sep. 13	Greece to Rome	M:	The Eunuch (Terence, 161 BCE)*
Wed, Sep. 15	Roman Comedy and Tragedy	W:	Thyestes (Seneca, 60 BCE)
Fri, Sep. 17	Discussion	F:	-
Mon, Sep. 20	Roman Entertainments/ Fall of Rome	M:	Dulcitius (Hrosvita, c.975 CE)
Wed, Sep. 22	Rise of Medieval Drama	W:	The Second Shepherd’s Play (Wakefield Master, c. 1475)
Fri, Sep. 24	Discussion	F:	[2nd Portfolio Project Due]
Mon, Sep. 27	Classical Sanskrit Drama	M:	Little Clay Cart (Shudraka, c. 100 – 300 CE)
Wed, Sep. 29	Classical theatres of China	W:	Snow in Midsummer (Hanqing, c. 1200s)
Fri, Oct. 1	Discussion	F:	-
Mon, Oct. 4	Classical theatres of Japan	M:	Atsumori (Motokiyo, c. 1400); Just a Minute! (Hyōgo, c. 1697)*
Wed, Oct. 6	Discussion	W:	[Note Wed. discussion]
Fri, Oct. 8	FALL BREAK – NO SCHOOL	F:	-
Mon, Oct. 11	Cycle and Morality Plays	M:	Everyman (Anonymous, c. 1570)
Wed, Oct. 13	Losing my (English) religion	W:	The Spanish Tragedy (Kyd, c. 1587)
Fri, Oct. 15	Discussion	F:	[3rd Portfolio Project Due]
Mon, Oct. 18	Marlowe’s Mighty Line	M:	Dr. Faustus (Marlowe, c. 1588)
Wed, Oct. 20	Elizabeth, James, Macbeth	W:	Macbeth† (Shakespeare, 1606)
Fri, Oct. 22	Discussion	F:	-
Mon, Oct. 25	Jacobean playwrights, theatres, masques	M:	The Duchess of Malfi (Webster, 1613-14)
Wed, Oct. 27	Mini-Masterpiece: Intro and 1st rehearsal	W:	-
Fri, Oct. 29	Discussion	F:	-
Mon, Nov. 1	Spanish Golden Age (Guest Lecture: Dr. Shugar, Spanish and Portuguese)	M:	Castelvines y Monteses* (Lope de Vega, c. 1600s) & Loa for The Divine Narcissus (Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, c. 1690)
Wed, Nov. 3	Field Trip: Stone Center (Library)	W:	Life is a Dream (de la Barca, 1636)
Fri, Nov. 5	Discussion	F:	-
Mon, Nov. 8	Commedia and Neo-Classicism	M:	Servant of Two Masters* (Goldoni, 1745)
Wed, Nov. 10	Mini-Masterpiece meeting time	W:	Tartuffe (Molière, 1664)
Fri, Nov. 12	Discussion	F:	[4th Portfolio Project Due]
Mon, Nov. 15	Portfolio sharing day	M:	-
Wed, Nov. 17	Mini-Masterpiece meeting time	W:	-
Fri, Nov. 19	Mini-Masterpiece Performances!	F:	Meet in the Lupin Theatre
Mon, Nov. 22	THANKSGIVING – NO CLASS	M:	-
Wed, Nov. 24	THANKSGIVING – NO CLASS	W:	-
Fri, Nov. 26	THANKSGIVING – NO CLASS	F:	-
Mon, Nov. 29	Charles I, Civil War, and Aphra Behn	M:	The Rover (Behn, 1677)
Wed, Dec. 1	Restoration Comedy and Comedy of Manners	W:	School for Scandal (Sheridan, 1777)
Fri, Dec. 3	Discussion	F:	-
Mon, Dec. 6	Goethe and Germany	M:	Faust (Goethe, 1808)
Wed, Dec. 8	Discussion	W:	[Note Wed. discussion]
Fri, Dec. 10	Catch-up/Reflection/Evals	F:	-
Final Exam period, Saturday, December 18		Final Exam Essay. Final Portfolio Projects due.
* indicates a reading available on Canvas		† indicates a standalone reading

 

Writing Intensive Option – Theatre Histories – Fall 2021

 

Overview: For students taking one of the theatre history courses as a Tier 2 Writing Intensive, the assignment structure is a little different. This document outlines those differences and explains the core requirements to fulfill the Tier 2 standards at Tulane.

Students are expected to attend and substantively engage during all scheduled sessions, to conduct research and writing independently outside of class, and to rewrite material over the course of the semester. Per SLA guidelines, courses that fulfill the Tier II Writing Intensive Requirement will have a writing assignment or assignments that:

• Require at least 3500 words (~ 15 pages) of expository, analytic writing total
• Are individually written (rather than group work)
• Cannot include creative or technical writing assignments
• A substantive portion must be reviewed and rewritten based on feedback

Texts: There are no additional required texts for the Writing Intensive, but it is recommended that students buy a copy of the most current MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers or the Chicago Manual of Style. These two citation systems are the most prevalent in theatre studies.

Objectives

In addition to the course objectives listed on the primary syllabus, the Writing Intensive section adds the following:

• Demonstrates an understanding of context, audience, and purpose that is responsive to the assigned task(s).
• Uses appropriate content to clearly convey the writer’s understanding of the subject.
• Demonstrates competence in the appropriate citation systems for their academic disciplines or genres.
• Incorporates feedback to improve quality of the writing.

 

 

Milestones for Writing Intensive
Week	Due	Week	Due
Aug. 23	Initial meet and greet: Syllabus, planning, etc.	Oct. 25
Aug. 30	Text Analysis Portfolio Project Due	Nov. 1	~ 10 pages drafted of final paper
Sep. 6		Nov. 8
Sep. 13		Nov. 15	~ 15-page rough draft completed
Sep. 20	First portfolio project due on chosen topic (either “I’m Interested” or “Read Another Play”)	Nov. 22	NO SCHOOL: THANKSGIVING BREAK
Sep. 27		Nov. 29
Oct. 4		Dec. 6
Oct. 11	Second portfolio project due related to chosen topic (type specific to area of study chosen).	Finals Period	Final paper due – Saturday, Dec. 18
Oct. 18	Library session on research resources

 

 

Talking it over: I am always happy to talk at any point in the process with you, as well as read drafts in various stages, and I will also endeavor to meet 1:1 with each of you (either in person or via Zoom) as we head into the final revision and rewriting process towards the end of the semester.