Course Catalogue

View Specification Document | Reading List

The course will focus on the transformational impact of media and digital culture on contemporary performance, addressing and analysing how technological developments of the last thirty years have reshaped the ways we make, spectate, narrate, and generally experience art. As part of this course students will critically and creatively explore how performance and art practice respond to the challenges and possibilities of our networked society. 

10 x 3-hour seminar sessions as scheduled on MyCampus

Available to all students fulfilling requirements for Honours entry into Theatre Studies, and by arrangement to visiting students or students of other Honours programmes who qualify under the University's 25% regulation.

THEATRE4093

None.

Essay 3000 words - 40%

Group Presentation or Performance - 40%

Digital Exercise (e.g. a blog critique, a zine provocation, or a mixed-media reflection for a digital project) Equivalent of 1,500 words - 20%

Reassessments are normally available for all courses, except those which contribute to the Honours classification. Where, exceptionally, reassessment on Honours courses is required to satisfy professional/accreditation requirements, only the overall course grade achieved at the first attempt will contribute to the Honours classification. For non-Honours courses, students are offered reassessment in all or any of the components of assessment if the satisfactory (threshold) grade for the overall course is not achieved at the first attempt. This is normally grade D3 for undergraduate students and grade C3 for postgraduate students. Exceptionally it may not be possible to offer reassessment of some coursework items, in which case the mark achieved at the first attempt will be counted towards the final course grade. Any such exceptions for this course are described below. 

This course aims to:  

■ develop a critical and conceptual understanding of online, intermedial and mixed-reality practices that change the status of participants and creators in a networked society. 

■ consider conceptually and theoretically the cultural and critical significance of innovation in digital art and performance practices. 

■ introduce students to theoretical, creative and practical perspectives that enable them to find appropriate new approaches to the exploration of digital art and performance.

By the end of this course students will be able to:

■ recognise and critique examples of digital performance based on the development of a chosen theoretical framework.  

■ articulate an understanding of the ways in which current technological developments impact upon art and performance practices and intersect with recent approaches to performance and critical theories. 

■ identify the specific concerns of the digital art and performance within twenty first century culture.

■ present in a clear, persuasive and creative manner their ideas about the role of 'the digital' in the arts and performance practice. 

■ present this knowledge and understanding through effective group work.

Students must submit at least 75% by weight of the components (including examinations) of the course's summative assessment.