All-Day Celebration: UT-Austin's Performance as Public Practice Area Turns 20, October 21, 2022
Contributing to the fields of theatre, dance, performance, performance studies and arts leadership, "PPP" continues to support the next generation of leaders in arts, academia and beyond.
In 2022, the Performance as Public Practice area (M.A./M.F.A./Ph.D. in Theatre) program at The University of Texas at Austin marks its 20th anniversary.
In its first two decades Performance as Public Practice (PPP) has significantly contributed to the fields of theatre, dance, performance, performance studies, theatre studies, dance studies and arts leadership on an international scale through its training of accomplished citizen-artist-scholars. Graduates of the program teach at major universities; publish books; produce new works for the stage; and run theatres, performances, spaces, and companies. They are arts leaders, academic leaders and civic leaders alike.
To celebrate the program’s many accomplishments, the Performance as Public Practice program welcomes alumni, faculty and members of the public to an in-person series of events to commemorate the impact of PPP, featuring faculty, both past and present, distinguished alumni and current students.
Schedule of Events
Friday, October 21, 2022
Breakfast and Welcome
WELCOME | 8:00-9:00 A.M.
B. IDEN PAYNE LOBBY, 300 E 23RD STREET
Breakfast tacos and coffee will be available to welcome guests.
Morning Panel Discussions | 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
WPC Student Activity Center 2.120
WELCOME FROM PPP FACULTY (9:00-9:15 A.M.)
Speakers: Rebecca Rossen, Charlotte Canning, Raquel Monroe, Madge Darlington and Paul Bonin-Rodriguez
PERFORMANCE AS PUBLIC PRACTICE AND CULTURAL LEADERSHIP (9:15-10:30 A.M.)
MODERATOR: DR. PAUL BONIN-RODRIGUEZ
From the outset, PPP proposed that its students could provide cultural leadership from a variety of scholarly locations and experiences. In this panel, alumni speak about their roles in and outside the academy, and the relationship between their studies and their work as citizen-artist-scholar-leaders.
- Fadi Skeiker, Associate Professor, University of the Arts
- Marcus McQuirter, Department Chair, Professor of Drama, Austin Community College
- Susan Gayle Todd, former Producing Artistic Director/Executive Director, Austin Scottish Rite Theater
- Thomas Graves, Co-Producing Artistic Director, Rude Mechs
- siri gurudev, Doctoral Candidate, PPP
PERFORMANCE AS PUBLIC PRACTICE AND RESEARCH (10:45 A.M. - 12:00 P.M.)
MODERATOR: DR. CHARLOTTE CANNING
How do PPP alumni build their practice and activism around their scholarship and return their scholarship back to practice and activism? The panelists speak of the trajectory from their studies at UT Austin to their current practice.
- Jack Isaac Pryor, Assistant Professor of Theater, The Pennsylvania State University
- Clare Croft, Associate Professor of American Culture, University of Michigan
- Abimbola Adelakun, Assistant Professor of African and African Diasporic Studies, The University of Texas at Austin
- Dotun Ayobade, Assistant Professor of Performance Studies and African American Studies, Northwestern University
- Chuyun Oh, Associate Professor of Dance, San Diego State University
- Michael J. Love, Princeton Arts Fellow, Princeton University
Lunch with the Oscar G. Brockett Center for Theatre History and Criticism
WPC Student Activity Center 2.410
By invitation only. To request to join the lunch discussion, please R.S.V.P. by emailing mmdarlington@utexas.eduor clicking the link below
Afternoon Panel Discussions | 1:45-3:30 p.m.
WPC Student Activity Center 2.120
WELCOME PLENARY WITH DEAN DR. RAMÓN RIVERA-SERVERA, COLLEGE OF FINE ARTS
Speaker: PPP alumnus and Dean of the College of Fine Arts Dr. Ramón Rivera-Servera.
PERFORMANCE AS PUBLIC PRACTICE ORIGINS (2:15-3:30 P.M.)
MODERATOR: DR. RAMÓN RIVERA-SERVERA
What key ideas, connections and commitments led to the creation of the Performance as Public Practice Program? On what terms did the program bring together the Theatre History, Theory, Criticism and Text Program in the Department of Theatre and Dance and the Performance Studies Program from the College of Communications? And what was the initial response?
- Jill Dolan, Dean of the College, Princeton University
- Stacy Wolf, Professor of Theater in the Lewis Center for the Arts and American Studies, Princeton University
- Omi Joni Jones, Professor Emerita of African and African Diaspora Studies, UT Austin
- Charlotte Canning, Frank C. Erwin, Jr. Centennial Professor in Drama, UT Austin
- Deborah Paredez (via Zoom), Director of Undergraduate Studies, Associate Professor of Professional Practice in Writing, School of the Arts, Columbia University
PERFORMANCE AS PUBLIC PRACTICE CONNECTIONS | 3:45-4:45 P.M.
PATTON HALL (RLP) 1.302B
MODERATOR: DR. REBECCA ROSSEN
What programs, partnerships and innovations have resulted from PPP’s scholarly and artistic commitments, as well as the work of its students?
- Jill Dolan, Dean of the College, Princeton University
- Andrew Carlson, Associate Professor of Theatre, Carleton College
- Paul Bonin-Rodriguez, Associate Professor of PPP, The University of Texas at Austin
- Omi Joni Jones, Professor Emerita of African and African Diaspora Studies, The University of Texas at Austin
- Laura G. Gutiérrez, Associate Professor in the Department of Mexican American and Latina/o Studies, The University of Texas at Austin
- Eric Colleary, Cline Curator of Theatre and Performing Arts at the Harry Ransom Center, The University of Texas at Austin
Closing Reception | 5:00-5:45 p.m.
Patton Hall (RLP) 1.302B
After-party
Co-hosted by Performance as Public Practice and the Rude Mechs
Guests are invited to join Performance as Public Practice and the Rude Mechs to an off-campus after-party the evening of October 21 from 7:30-10:30 p.m.
Crashbox
5305 Bolm Road #12
Austin, Texas 78721
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE PERFORMANCE AS PUBLIC PRACTICE AREA
These events are co-sponsored by the College of Fine Arts, The Oscar G. Brockett Center for Theatre History and Criticism, the LGBTQ Studies Program and the Center for Women’s and Gender Studies at the College of Liberal Arts.