TP5005 - Investigating Theatre and Performance

Sessions will be led by different members of staff to allow you an opportunity to engage directly with world leading researchers and engage directly with active research projects. In each session, the lecturer will share with you and help you to understand some key ideas and concepts relating to different kinds of theatre and performance practice. The lecture-seminars will be delivered in varied ways; you will not only be listening to lecturers but also asked to try out ideas, to watch pieces of film and respond to a range of questions and provocations. It is an environment that encourages dialogue and debate, informed by your engagement with materials that we will look at on the course.

Your learning is supported in a number of ways throughout the module. The classes themselves are structured in a way which is responsive to your needs; lecturers will explore ideas with you and ask you to affirm your understanding of them, and you will be given tasks to respond to in classes and receive feedback on this work, helping you to measure for yourself your own progress on the module. A series of research materials will be selected for you to rencounter which will help you to navigate your way through the module, and these materials will be directly spoken to in classes so that your research is supported. The module also incorporates a number of formative assessments which give you the opportunity to practice and hone your academic research skills in response to feedback which will be given to you by lecturers.

Information and resources will be available to you on Blackboard and the 'Reading List' contains links to websites and online video material which can help you develop appropriate knowledge and understanding.

Written assessment feedback will be provided within 20 working days of summative assignment submission. Access to library facilities is available 24-7 all year round.

All modules at Northumbria include a range of reading materials that students are expected to engage with. The reading list for this module can be found at: http://readinglists.northumbria.ac.uk
(Reading List service online guide for academic staff this containing contact details for the Reading List team – http://library.northumbria.ac.uk/readinglists)

Knowledge & Understanding:
? Engage critically with a range of methodological perspectives, including competing approaches or positions, to argue the relevance of theatre and performance to contemporary ‘grand challenges’.

Intellectual / Professional skills & abilities:
? Demonstrate an ability to retrieve, sift and synthesise information from a range of sources

Personal Values Attributes (Global / Cultural awareness, Ethics, Curiosity) (PVA):
? Evidence an awareness of the global challenges facing theatre and performance in the 21st century

Formative
Oral presentation (c. 10 minutes). In small groups, you will deliver a presentation based on one of the topics from the lecture series. This will introduce the subject for the class and draw out an aspect of that topic to open it up for class discussion.

Summative
Essay (2500 words). This essay asks you to articulate and sustain an argument in response to a question which arises directly from the lecture and seminar classes. The question may be in response to a provocation provided by staff or devised by the student.

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How do you investigate theatre and performance for a major research project? What are the methods and perspectives that researchers employ to study contemporary practices? Building on Arguments for Theatre and Performance, this module will develop your research skills in preparation for a major independent research project in the final year. Each session will offer you the opportunity to engage directly with staff research specialisms and active research projects. While still focused on the ‘grand challenges’ of the 21st century, you will be introduced to research methodologies and methods; inclusive of areas such as practice research, dialogic theatre, theatre history, archival research, performance analysis and interviews and ethnographic approaches.