3/13/2025 11:53:33 PM	COMM 2 Course Outline as of Fall 2025	Changed Course
CATALOG INFORMATION
Discipline and Nbr:  COMM 2	Title:  INTRO TO PERFORM AS COMM
Full Title:  Introduction to Performance as Communication
Last Reviewed:11/4/2024

Units		Course Hours per Week			Nbr of Weeks	Course Hours Total
Maximum	3.00	Lecture Scheduled	3.00		17.5 max.	Lecture Scheduled	52.50
Minimum	3.00	Lab Scheduled	0		4 min.	Lab Scheduled	0
		Contact DHR	0			Contact DHR	0
		Contact Total	3.00			Contact Total	52.50
		Non-contact DHR	0			Non-contact DHR Total	0

Total Out of Class Hours:  105.00

Total Student Learning Hours: 157.50

Title 5 Category:  AA Degree Applicable
Grading:  Grade or P/NP
Repeatability:  00 - Two Repeats if Grade was D, F, NC, or NP
Also Listed As: 
Formerly:  SPCH 2

Catalog Description:

In this course, students will be introduced to performance as artistic and everyday communication. They will analyze, appreciate, and apply performance and communication concepts to poetry, prose and storytelling, drama (plays, scripts, interviews), new media texts, and real-world events.

Prerequisites/Corequisites:

Recommended Preparation:
Eligibility for ENGL C1000 or EMLS 10 or equivalent or appropriate placement based on AB705 mandates

Limits on Enrollment:

Schedule of Classes Information
Description:

In this course, students will be introduced to performance as artistic and everyday communication. They will analyze, appreciate, and apply performance and communication concepts to poetry, prose and storytelling, drama (plays, scripts, interviews), new media texts, and real-world events.

(Grade or P/NP)
Prerequisites:
Recommended:Eligibility for ENGL C1000 or EMLS 10 or equivalent or appropriate placement based on AB705 mandates
Limits on Enrollment:
Transfer Credit:CSU;UC.
Repeatability:00 - Two Repeats if Grade was D, F, NC, or NP

ARTICULATION, MAJOR, and CERTIFICATION INFORMATION

Associate Degree:		Effective:	Fall 1981	Inactive:
Area:	E	Humanities
CSU GE:	Transfer Area			Effective:	Inactive:
	C2	Humanities		Fall 1981
IGETC:	Transfer Area			Effective:	Inactive:
CSU Transfer:	Transferable	Effective:	Fall 1981	Inactive:
UC Transfer:	Transferable	Effective:	Fall 1981	Inactive:
C-ID:
CID Descriptor: COMM 170	Oral Interpretation of Literature	SRJC Equivalent Course(s): COMM2

Certificate/Major Applicable: Major Applicable Course

COURSE CONTENT

Student Learning Outcomes:
At the conclusion of this course, the student should be able to:

1. Utilize performance studies concepts to increase understanding of the self and others.

2. Effectively communicate the meaning of literature to a live audience.

3. Adapt culturally significant texts for oral, embodied, and communication research.

 

Objectives:

At the conclusion of this course, the student should be able to:

1. Recognize personal strengths and areas of growth when presenting messages for audiences.

2. Channel communication anxiety and apprehension with verbal and nonverbal performance application.

3. Utilize vocabulary, history, and concept of performance studies and communication studies.

4. Research, adapt, and construct individual and/or group presentations for live audiences using techniques that focus on context, place, action, rhythm, mood, character, and empathy.

5. Distinguish between works of poetry, prose, drama, and other texts as genres of literature.

6. Demonstrate an understanding of the aesthetical characteristics of each genre of literature.

7. Analyze orally, with the body, and in writing various texts using literary criteria, literary devices, and ethics.

8. Identify a text's premises and assumptions in various social, historical, cultural, psychological, religious and aesthetic contexts.

9. Write and present thoughtful introductions to literary performances, contextualizing necessary elements in order to understand and communicate a text's significance.

10. Evaluate, critique, and collaborate on performance research of other students.

Topics and Scope

I. Introduction to the Course

    A. History, theory, significance, and concepts of communication studies and performance studies

    B. Performance as a research method to explore aesthetic and everyday communication

    C. The role of performance in personal growth, cultural understanding and social change

II. Genres of Literature and Texts to Explore

    A. Prose and storytelling, such as:

         1. Non fiction

         2. Fiction

         3. Personal narrative

         4. Graphic novels

    B. Drama and character, such as:

         1. Plays and scripts

         2. Films and screenplays

         3. Documentaries

         4. Interviews

     C. Poetry and rhythm, such as:

         1. Slam poetry

         2. Lyric poem

         3. Narrative poem

         4. Persona poem

    D. New media texts, such as:

         1. Online content

         2. Virtual reality

         3. Digital and social media

    E. Real world, such as:

         1. Events

          2. Artifacts

         3. Community narratives

    F. Intertextuality, such as:

         1. Mash-up and remix

         2. Uniting themes of multiple texts

         3. Performance ethnography

    G. Other, such as:

         1. Installations

         2. Museums

         3. Tourism

         4. Protest

         5. Performance studies research

         6. Forensics interpretation

III. Research and Selection of Literature

     A. Research techniques for locating texts and their significance

    B. Evaluation of literary selection for appropriateness to audience, prompt, and purpose

    C. Editing and adapting culturally significant texts for various mediums

IV. Analysis of Texts and Literature

    A. Point of view

    B. Setting/Locus

    C. Character analysis

    D. Theme

    E. Author's intent

    F. Empathy

    G. Narrative arcs

    H. Dramatic structure

    I. Pentadic analysis

V. Verbal and Nonverbal Concepts

    A. Nonverbal communication and embodied delivery techniques

    B. Encoding thoughts and emotions of authors' text

    C. Understanding the self by exploring another

    D. Managing communication apprehension and anxiety

     E. Creativity, imagination, and thriving within limitations

    F. Making choices that are legible to intended audiences

VI. Critical Evaluation of Performances

    A. Application of criteria (describing, interpreting, evaluating, theorizing) to presentations of the self and of others

    B. Offer constructive feedback to other students

    C. Understand how audience members perform

Assignments:

1. Five graded presentations of culturally significant texts or literature, which may include any of the following:

    a. An ice breaker trial performance for initial skill assessment

    b. Research presentation of dramatic literature, such as:

         1. Plays and scripts

         2. Films and screenplays

         3. Documentaries

         4. Interviews       

     c. Research presentation of poetry, such as:

         1. Lyric poem

         2. Narrative poem

         3. Slam poem

         4. Persona poem

   d. Research presentation of prose and storytelling, such as:

         1. First person prose

         2. Second person prose

         3. First- or third-person prose narration with character dialogue

         4. Comic books and graphic novels

   e. Intertextual/thematic presentation, such as:

         1. Two or more texts weaved together

         2. Creating MyStory - combining personal, political, and popular texts

         3. Performance ethnography - gathering cultural narratives to perform

    f. Group collaboration, such as:

         1. Duo interpretation

         2. Reader's theatre

          3. Children's theatre

         4. Other group presentation of culturally significant texts

    g. Personal narrative research presentation, such as:

        1. Self-created texts of any  genre

        2. Intertextual personal narrative combined with other text(s)

        3. Autoethnography

        4. Performing texts written by classmates

2. Reading and watching

    a. Textbook reading (average of 15-20 pages/week)

    b. Students are expected to research, read, watch and critique texts as part of the process of selecting presentation subject matter

    c. Live experiences

3. Written analytical assignments will include 3-5 assignments of 500 words each, such as

    a. Structured essays

    b. Creative essays

    c. Digital reflections

    d. Live reflections

    e. Reflections of student presentations

    f. Pentadic analysis

    g. Text and character  preparation

4. Experiential exercises and workshops

5. Problem solving through outlining and rehearsing presentations

6. Critiques of self and others

7. Examinations, may be:

      a. Multiple choice

      b. Written

     c. Research presentation

Methods of Evaluation/Basis of Grade.

Writing: Assessment tools that demonstrate writing skill and/or require students to select, organize and explain ideas in writing.		Writing 15 - 25%
Written analytical assignments
Problem solving: Assessment tools, other than exams, that demonstrate competence in computational or non-computational problem solving skills.		Problem Solving 10 - 20%
Outlining and rehearsing presentations
Skill Demonstrations: All skill-based and physical demonstrations used for assessment purposes including skill performance exams.		Skill Demonstrations 10 - 20%
Experiential exercises and workshops
Exams: All forms of formal testing, other than skill performance exams.		Exams 40 - 60%
Examinations
Other: Includes any assessment tools that do not logically fit into the above categories.		Other Category 0 - 10%
Class participation in critiques of self and others

Representative Textbooks and Materials:

Communicating Literature: An Introduction to Oral Interpretation 5th ed. Lewis, T. Kendall/Hunt. 2011. (classic).

Oral Interpretation 5th ed. Lee, C. and Gura, T. Routledge. 2011. (classic).

Performance: A Critical Introduction 3rd ed. Carlson, M. Routledge. 2017. (classic).

Performance Studies: An Introduction 4th ed. Schechner, R. Routledge. 2020. (classic).

Performance Studies: The Interpretation of Aesthetic Texts 2nd ed. Pelias, R. and Stephenson Shaffer, T., Kendall/Hunt. 2007. (classic).

Performing Literary Texts 1st ed.. Jaffe, C. Cengage. 2005. (classic).

Roles in Interpretation 5th ed. Yordon, J. McGraw Hill. 2001. (classic).

The SAGE Handbook of Performance Studies 1st ed. Edited by Madison, D. and Hamera, J. 2005. (classic).

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