Faculty of Humanities Programme book 2017 Contemporary Theatre, Dance and Dramaturgy 1 | WELCOME NOTE 4 2 | INTRODUCTION 5 3 | WHO IS WHO? 3.1 | Teachers 6 3.2 | Supervision 7 3.3 | Study advisor 8 3.4 | Curriculum committee / Board of examiners 8 3.5 | Study association 8 3.6 | Partner organisations 9 3.7 | Student desk / Student services 9 3.8 | Career Services 9 3.9 | Student psychologist 9 4 | IMPORTANT DATES AND DEADLINES 4.1 | Academic year 10 4.2 | Holidays 10 4.3 | Enrolment dates and deadlines 10 4.4 | Important dates specific to the programme 11 4.5 | Graduation ceremony 11 5 | PROGRAMME INFORMATION 5.1 | Programme outline 12 5.2 | Courses 13 5.3 | Thesis 14 5.4 | Internship 18 5.5 | Group tutorials 23 5.6 | Career orientation 23 5.7 | Policies and procedures 25 5.8 | Course evaluations 26 6 | PRACTICAL INFORMATION 6.1 | Solis-ID 27 6.2 | OSIRIS 27 6.3 | UU Gmail 27 6.4 | Blackboard 27 6.5 | MyUU app and MyTimetable 27 6.6 | Wi-Fi 27 6.7 | Locations 28 6.8 | Library services 28 6.9 | Training academic skills 29 7 | GETTING AROUND 7.1 | Housing 30 7.2 | Transportation 30 7.3 | Culture 31 7.4 | Public library and bookstores 33 7.5 | Pubs, food, drinks & nightlife 33 7.6 | Sport and recreation 34 7.7 | Student discounts 34 8 | APPENDIX: GUIDELINES PEER-TO-PEER COACHING 35 3 1 | WELCOME NOTE Dear students, Welcome to the MA Contemporary Theatre, Dance and Dramaturgy programme at Utrecht University. For most of you this will be the first time you set foot in the city of Utrecht and at Utrecht University. Hence, this guide will help you find your way around the university, the programme, and the city a little more easily. This MA programme is part of the MA Arts & Culture, which also includes programmes on Gender Studies, Applied Musicology and Arts & Society. During this programme you will encounter various members of our Theatre Studies staff at Utrecht University. Next to this MA programme, the staff also teaches in the (Dutch) BA Media and Culture Studies, and in the Research MA Media, Art and Performance Studies. Several PhD researchers (with various institutional backgrounds) complete our team and you may encounter some of them as well, during your studies with us. The first part of this guide contains useful information about the MA Contemporary Theatre, Dance and Dramaturgy at the Department of Media and Culture Studies (Faculty of Humanities): included are the academic year calendar, a list of teachers and committees, as well as the names of the student advisors. This part also contains important information regarding the study programme, internship and thesis, and getting your degree. The second part lists some practical information, such as student’s communication, libraries and Internet facilities. The third part is there to help you have fun, and lists our recommendations for theatre, dance and performance festivals and venues, bars, restaurants and cinemas, as well as handy information on student discounts. Through our monthly newsletter, we will keep you posted on interesting performances, conferences, lectures and so on throughout the year. We hope that this guide will help you to take full advantage of everything the city of Utrecht has to offer academically as well as leisure wise. If you have any further questions, check the website students.uu.nl/en/hum/contemporary-theatre-dance-and-dramaturgy, ask your fellow students or your supervisor, and if this leaves your question still unresolved, do not hesitate to contact the programme coordinator, Liesbeth Groot Nibbelink: [email protected]. In case you come across useful information for other (prospect) students during your time here, please let us know, so we can include it in next year’s edition! Please enjoy your stay in Utrecht! The staff of MA Contemporary Theatre, Dance and Dramaturgy Photo: Sanne Peper 4 2 | INTRODUCTION What can theatre tell us about everyday life in a digital culture? How does dance inform and shape society? How can we analyse, interpret and respond to this — as critical thinkers? In this programme we will jointly investigate and reflect on the dynamic ways in which theatrical and choreographic practices engage with a society in transition. Contemporary performance practices are increasingly hybrid projects that approach and transcend the borders of theatre, dance, visual arts, music, media and daily life. Theatre and dance are inextricably linked with other media that shape our reality; they extend beyond the theatre’s walls and inject themselves into our daily lives. At Utrecht University, we focus in particular on contemporary performance within a European context, as this is precisely the place where these exciting new developments take place. The expansion of performance does not only pertain to practices, but to theories as well. Theories and concepts derived from the performing arts are progressively deployed in critical and cultural theory and (social) science. Such a field in transition demands an approach that studies theatre and dance as intermedial and interdisciplinary phenomena, and addresses the interrelationships of these phenomena, the audience and the socio-cultural context. This dynamic is the focus of our Contemporary Theatre, Dance and Dramaturgy programme. In the programme, we will reflect on and contextualise these developments, in order to help you in becoming a performing arts professional, who is able to articulate (dramaturgical) observations and to analyse emerging trends and theories. This program develops your skills in studying artistic making processes, to inspire that process, and to maintain a productive dialogue with various partners in these processes (performers, directors, designers, theorists). You will get acquainted with doing research for a variety of ends: dramaturgical and theoretical research, research for conferences, debates or festivals, and field-research on emerging trends and topics. Through a range of (group) assignments and meetings with practitioners and scholars, you are able to train verbal and professional communication skills relevant to the field. Above all, we will develop your writing skills, so that by the end of the programme, you will know how to articulate your thoughts, how to build an argument, how to think dramaturgically and critically. You will learn how to make sense of and be sensitive to current developments in the field, and will know why such skills are vital instruments for engaging with contemporary theatre, dance and performance. 5 3 | WHO IS WHO? 3.1 | Teachers Below you will find the contact details of the academic staff, including their research interests and courses they teach. Photos are by Bram Kloos. Maaike Bleeker Chair Theatre Studies [email protected] Maaike Bleeker is Professor in and Chair of Theatre Studies. In her research she combines performance and dance studies with media theory and philosophy, engaging with questions about perception, cognition, embodiment, in particular related to science and technology. She was also chair of Performance Studies international. Course: Expanding Performance Liesbeth Groot Nibbelink Programme coordinator [email protected] Liesbeth Groot Nibbelink is Assistant Professor in theatre and performance studies. Her research areas include theorizing movement and mobility in performance, the dramaturgy of scenography, curating, and transdisciplinary and performative research methods. She is co-founder of Platform- Scenography, a transdisciplinary platform of scenographers, scholars and dramaturges. Courses: Contemporary Performance: Mapping the Field and Performance Research Lab: Act I Chiel Kattenbelt [email protected] Chiel Kattenbelt is Associate Professor in media comparison and intermediality. In teaching as well as research, his fields of interest are theatre and media theory, media comparison and intermediality, aesthetics and semiotics, and the role of theatre in today’s performative and media-saturated culture. He is also a member of the board of the International Society for Intermedial Studies. Course: Theories & Concepts of Theatre, Dance and Dramaturgy 6 Sigrid Merx [email protected] Sigrid Merx is Assistant Professor in theatre studies. Her areas of interest include performative interventions in public urban space, art and activism, dramaturgy and scenography and performative research methods. She is co-founder of Platform- Scenography, a transdisciplinary platform of scenographers, scholars and dramaturges. Courses: Performance Research Lab: Act II, and Dramaturgical Practices: Theatre and Dance, group 1 – Doing Dramaturgy in Theatre and Performance Laura Karreman [email protected] Laura Karreman is a Lecturer in dance and performance studies. Her research is situated at the interdisciplinary intersection of dance transmission practices, digital technologies and critical approaches of embodiment. She engages with questions about movement and representation and investigates notions of performance as knowledge. She has acted as a dramaturge in the Dutch theatre and dance field and worked as a performing arts advisor for the Amsterdam Art Fund. Courses: Performance Research Lab: Act II, and Dramaturgical Practices: Theatre and Dance, group 2 - Writing Dancing. Eugene Van Erven Head of Department [email protected] Eugene van Erven is Professor in Media, Performance and the City and teaches and coordinates the module ‘Community Art: Practice and Theory’ in the BA minor Creative Cities. He is also artistic director of ICAF, International Community Arts Festival. In the 2016-2017 season, Eugene is not actively involved in our MA programme, due to his work as Head of Department. If you need some specific expertise on community art though, it is good to know he is in the house. 3.2 | Supervision During the first month of the programme, each student will be assigned a personal supervisor, who is a member of the academic staff. The supervisor is a reference point throughout the year. S/he will monitor your progress and advise you on questions or problems you may encounter.