L98 AMCS 3520
Topics in American Culture Studies: Queer Performance, Activism, and Resistance
How do queer performances serve as sites of activism and resistance?
How might performance allow us to remember the queer past, resist challenges to the queer present, and demand queer futures?
This course starts from these questions and investigates the role of performance on LGBTQIA+ history, politics, and culture. Throughout the semester, we will engage with various types of performance-nightlife, drag, theatre, comedy, marches, museums, and more. Some of the artists and activists we will explore might include Marsha P. Johnson, Matthew López, Taylor Mac, Trixie Mattel, Sylvia Rivera, Split Britches, and Wanda Sykes. Through our examination, we will discover how queer performance can help represent the past and imagine new futures. No previous artistic or performance experience is required.
Will Bonfiglio (he/him) is interested in the connections between performance and politics. His research interests include identity and performance; monuments, memorials, and commemorative practices; and theater and migration. A graduate of WashU’s program in Theater and Performance Studies, he has previously taught in the American Culture Studies and Performing Arts departments. As a theater artist, his creative work has been presented across the country.
