CONGRATULATIONS CELEBRATION PROGRAM 2020 TAPS NEWSLETTER
Presented by Professor Branislav Jakovljevic
My dissertation, "Auto-Play: The Automation of Performance Action, Writing, and Control," discusses a series of artists who, throughout the past century, have attempted to automate theatrical processes. Offering a model of “automaticity” encompassing the traditions of both automatism and automation, I argue that theorists have long juxtaposed automaticity with theatricality. However, these qualities can indeed be integrated. Abstract action has been mechanized, dances have been computationally scored, and backstage control has been automated. I explore the neoliberal politics of automaticity, consider images of femininity and blackness attached to the automatic, and conclude that the conjunction of automaticity and theatricality is dominant within contemporary stage practice and society.
Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy in TAPS and PhD Minor in Feminist, Gender & Sexuality Studies The contentious political climate of the 1960s and 1970s gave birth to an abundance of social protest theatre collectives (SPT) dedicated to illustrating the needs of marginalized communities in the United States and Latin America. "Social Protest After the 'Movement': Aesthetics, Genre, and Survival After 1980" examines how institutionalization, digital media interventions, and ways in which their work has been narrated and archived affect the creative outputs of Latin American social protest theatre companies: El teatro campesino (the Farmworkers Theatre), Teatro Yuyachkani, Hijas de la violencia (daughters of violence), and Latesis. I argue that academic and capital-based institutionalization alters the subversive efficacy of both the (SPT) genre and tactics of social protest theatre. I propose new ways of theorizing social protest theatre to enable a fuller understanding of the intersection between politics and performance.
Presented by Professor Harry J. Elam, Jr.
Carl Weber Prize for Integration of Creative Practice and Scholarly Research
Doctor of Philosophy
Jessi’s dissertation “Acts of Commitment: Prefigurative Politics on the Agitprop Stage” uses archival materials — production ephemera, performer memoirs, and police reports — to reconstruct the history of Germany’s amateur agitprop theater movement during the final years of the Weimar Republic (1926-1933). As a transient space that enticed participants to perform political commitments in the face of increasingly fascist state forces, the agitprop stage enabled working-class players and spectators to rehearse new political identities, modes of communication, and strategies of resistance.
Presented by Professor Matthew W. Smith
Charles R. Lyons Memorial Prize for Outstanding Dissertation
Doctor of Philosophy
Áine's dissertation, “Critiquing Counter-Terror: The Impact of Security Policy on American, British, and French Publics Post 9/11” examines counter-terrorism policy developed in the United States, United Kingdom, and France in the years since 9/11. She conducts close readings of sections of counter-terrorism legislations — namely, the U.S. Patriot Act, the French SILT Law (2017), and UK CONTEST — that have increased authorities’ powers, broadened definitions of terrorism activity, and legitimized mass-surveillance practices. Overall, she argues many measures implemented in the name of national security are in conflict with democratic values and principles including the right to privacy, freedom of speech, and freedom of movement.
Presented by Professor Jisha Menon
Mo Asebiomo
Austin Critchlow
Alli Cruz
Lizzie Frankel
Gracie Goheen
Mylan Gray
Phoebe Kimm
Sydney Maly
Lorin Phillips
Timothy Sherlock
Dylan Sherman
Allen Wehner
Gabe Wieder
Presented by Professor Diana Looser and Lecturer Aleta Hayes
Department of Theater & Performance Studies Award for Excellence in Scholarship
Department of Theater & Performance Studies Award for Contribution to Dance
Department of Theater & Performance Studies Award for Work Addressing Social Issues
Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Theater and Performance Studies with a Concentration in Acting Presented by Artist-in-Residence Amy Freed
Bachelor of Arts with Honors in Theater and Performance Studies with a Concentration in Theater-Making and a Minor in Translation Studies Presented by Production Manager Jane Casamajor
Louis Sudler Prize for Excellence in the Creative Arts
Bachelor of Arts in Theater and Performance Studies with a Concentration in Theater-Making
Presented by Lecturer Tony Shayne
Bachelor of Arts in Theater and Performance Studies with a Concentration in Acting and a Minor in Spanish Presented by Professor Harry J. Elam, Jr.
Robert M. Golden Medal in Performance
Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology and Theater and Performance Studies with a Concentration in Theater-Making
Presented by Director of Marketing & Special Events Stefanie Okuda
Alexander Stewart Prize for Contribution to Production
Bachelor of Arts in Theater and Performance Studies with a Concentration in Acting and a Minor in Music
Presented by Artist-in-Residence Amy Freed
Department of Theater & Performance Studies Award for Contribution to Acting
Bachelor of Arts in English and Theater and Performance Studies with a Concentration in Acting Presented by Artist-in-Residence Amy Freed
Bachelor of Arts in Theater and Performance Studies with a Concentration in Acting Presented by Professor Aileen Robinson
Bachelor of Arts in American Studies and Theater and Performance Studies with a Concentration in Acting and a Minor in Music Presented by Lecturer Anton Pankevich
Bachelor of Arts in Theater and Performance Studies with a Concentration in Acting
Presented by Professor Young Jean Lee
Department of Theater & Performance Studies Award for Contribution to Acting