AHSE2155 Constructing and Performing the Self

In this course, theatrical and psychological approaches will be purposely inter-mingled: the questions we will ask and the answers we will derive will be informed equally by each. You will see, on a daily basis, how each field informs, supports, and speaks to the other as you oscillate between the roles of scholar, writer, actor, and critic. While we will have some class sessions and assignments explicitly grounded in only one field to build your fluency speaking their languages, the major activities of the semester will require both. The final deliverable for the course will be a short, personal monologue, informed by the scientific literature on identity, which you will write and then perform as part of a fully-mounted theatrical production in the Studio Theater at Babson. No playwriting or acting experience is necessary.

Registration note: This course brings together the psychological study of identity and the theater of solo performance to ask one of the most fundamental of all questions: who am I? The instructors received the inaugural BOW Curriculum Innovation Fellowship to develop the course, which will include students from all three colleges.

Credits

4 AHSE