Portuguese 211 - Theater of the Oppressed and Beyond

Offered as ITL 211 and POR 211. This course combines the Theatre of the Oppressed, created by Augusto Boal, and Dario Fo’s and Franca Rames’ popular theatre. It also explores the fundamentals of the “Pedagogy of the Oppressed”  by Paulo Freire and contributions from philosophers of Ancient Greek classical period, Italian Renaissance, and contemporary European notions, namely playwright Bertolt Brecht. In the first part, the students learn about performative, pedagogical, and social justice theories. In the second part, they experiment theatrical practices and transpose them to current social topics, culminating in their final projects. Course taught in English; students who can read Portuguese and Italian have access to texts in the original version. Cannot be taken S/U. Enrollment limited to 25.