Overview
Performance and Media Cultures examines performance as a live artistic event and as a cultural practice shaped by technologies, institutions, platforms, and everyday behavior. The course introduces theatricality, embodiment, presence, liveness, ritual, spectatorship, audience participation, performance art, dance, movement, music, sound, film, television, streaming, social media, gaming, and virtual and augmented environments.
Students analyze how bodies, technologies, spaces, interfaces, editing, circulation, and algorithms shape meaning and audience experience. Practical exercises develop introductory skills in performance-making, screen-based production, sound and media experimentation, audience observation, and collaborative practice. The course also addresses platform economies, labor, identity, surveillance, representation, consent, accessibility, cultural sensitivity, copyright, privacy, and responsible media production.
Learning Outcomes
- Analyze performances across live, recorded, streamed, and interactive contexts using appropriate critical terminology.
- Evaluate how bodies, technologies, spaces, audiences, interfaces, and platforms interact to produce meaning.
- Apply introductory performance and media-making strategies in individual and collaborative practical work.
- Design and produce a performance or media project responsive to a defined audience, context, and set of creative objectives.
- Interpret audience behavior, platform dynamics, circulation patterns, and mediated forms of participation.
- Critique performance and media practices in relation to identity, labor, representation, accessibility, privacy, and cultural responsibility.
- Reflect on creative and analytical decisions using relevant theoretical concepts and ethical principles.
Timetable
| Type | Length | Frequency | Period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lecture | 2 hours | Weekly | All semester |
| Workshop | 2 hours | Weekly | All semester |
| Tutorial | 2 hours | Fortnightly | All semester |
| Lab | 2 hours | Fortnightly | All semester |
Assessment Schedule
| Type | Description | Weighting |
|---|---|---|
| Assignment | Critical response essays (2 × 15%) | 30.00% |
| Deliverable | Practical performance and media exercises (3 × 10%) | 30.00% |
| Capstone | Collaborative production project | 25.00% |
| Exam | Final analytical examination | 15.00% |
Prerequisites
- Requirement 14 NCEA Level 2 English credits, externally assessed
Teaching Staff & Programs
This course is delivered jointly by faculty from the participating programs listed below. In line with the Douchewater Way, the University of Sexology tailors core instruction directly to each cohort's specific discipline — adapting curriculum to program needs rather than forcing students into a one-size-fits-all model. Learn more about our approach at The Douchewater Way.
