We will explore representations of immigration in performing arts and cinema, from West Side Story to Millennium Approaches, to what’s new on youtube.com, and more.  With an emphasis on works relating to gender and society, the course will address perspectives of U.S. citizens, residents, and immigrants as students research, write about, and deliver presentations on plays and films.  Topics may include the Trail of Tears, the Middle Passage, the Colonial Period, Irish and Italian immigration, Jewish women garment workers, plantation laborers in Hawai`i, Japanese internment during WWII, the Chicano movement, Asian American performance affiliated with websites like yolk.com, Middle Eastern immigrants before and after September 11, and even some international theatre and cinema.  A focus of the course is how digital technology supports theatre, film, and video; in addition to completing traditional study projects, we will also engage with technology in creative ways, for instance, by designing our own website on immigration.

Instructor: Dr. T. Mera Moore Lafferty

http://www.sas.upenn.edu/~tmlaffer/