2016-2017 Empty Space Season

Spring Showcase and Awards

Featuring performance texts from:

COM 241 Introduction to Oral Interpretation
COM 442 Performance, Identity, and Human Communication
COM 446 Performance of Literature by Women

Honoring the 2018 Kristin Bervig Valentine scholarship recipient and the Dessie E. Larsen graduate student fellowship recipient

Original performances by:
Jordan Klitzke, Ashley Wheeler, Kelsey Abele, Jay Taylor, Michael Tristano, Lizbett Binge, Rikki Tremblay, Reslie Cortés, Lauren Mark and Ana Terminel Iberri.

This performance event was created by the COM691 class, “Questioning the Body!”  Students perform their original works created through the process of an array of methodologies and approaches studied in the course over the spring semester.

Undergraduate Performance Studies Showcase and Awards
Emcees: Jennifer Linde, Olga Davis, Michael Tristano, Brandon Ferderer
April 28, 2017
7:00 p.m.
The Empty Space

An evening of performances from the undergraduate performance studies classes: COM241 Introduction to Oral Interpretation; COM341 Performance in Social Contexts; COM442 Performance, Identity, and Human Communication; COM446 Performance of Literature by Women; and COM499 Independent Study on Personal Performative Writing.

The Hugh Downs School will also be honoring the 2016 Kristin Bervig Valentine Scholarship recipients: Joley Hamilton and Fargo Tbakhi and the Dessie E. Larsen Fellowship recipient: Michael Tristano.

The Encyclopedia Show
Topic: Bears
Brandon Ferderer, Michelle Hill
April 25, 2017
7:00 p.m.

The Encyclopedia Show is a monthly, multi-genre, age-integrated presentation of creative performances on a central theme taken from an ACTUAL encyclopedia. Each contributor is assigned a specific subset of the central theme on which to write and perform. Participating artists perform poems, monologues, songs, rants, etc... Quirkiness and creativity are welcomed, as are fashionable falsehoods.

The Encyclopedia Show is also a world-wide event, started in Chicago by Robbie Q. and Shanny Jean, it now encompasses at least a dozen cities! The AZ show takes place at the Empty Space in Tempe and is sponsored by the Hugh Downs School of Human Communication. The creative team includes Nick Klemp, Michelle Hill, Brandon Ferderer, Andy Stone, Beth Clarke, Dwayne Holmes, and Adam Jarvie.

More about The Encyclopedia Show AZ.

Springcopia
April 21, 2017
3:00 to 5:00 p.m.
The Empty Space

What is Springcopia?

Springcopia is a performance/reading hour that the faculty, staff and graduate students offer to the HDSHC community. It is an opportunity for the many talented members of HDSHC to share a poem, song, narrative or other creative performance. If you have any creative piece that you would like to share, please contact Reslie Cortes at rcortes5@asu.edu.

Please join us for this inaugural event!

Civil Dialogue Spring 2017 
"Living with Difficult Decisions":
 Difficult Decisions in Arizona
April 5, 2017
6:30-8:30 p.m.
The Empty Space

This Civil Dialogue event will be focusing on minority issues with one round focused on race and the other focused on individuals with disabilities.

Civil Dialogue (CD) is a structured format for public dialogue that provides a tool to build bridges across the chasm of public viewpoints. CD can be used in multiple contexts to help people communicate in civil productive ways, especially when they face "hot topics" and need to employ "cool heads." In a Civil Dialogue session, volunteer participants consider a provocative statement and have the opportunity to embody a position on the statement ranging from "agree strongly" to "disagree strongly." Participants are asked to follow guidelines for civility that are explained by the facilitator. The dialogue is then extended to the broader audience who are encouraged to respond with their own opinions and questions. CD was developed by John Genette in 2004 and he, Jennifer Linde, and Clark Olson continue to develop the format at Arizona State University.

"My Culture is Not My Own"
Vital Voices
March 29, 2017
6:30-8:30 p.m.
The Empty Space

 

Have you ever felt like you did not belong to your own cultural group? What connects us to our cultural identity? Bring a passage, quote, picture, essay, poem or artifact to an evening of discussion and sharing.

Vital Voices brings together individuals and communities to talk, listen and connect through literature, language and performance in important cultural spaces around the Valley. We encourage and utilize a range of creative expression, which demonstrates the necessity and vitality of multiple perspectives on and approaches to understanding our humanity. Vital Voices utilizes a four-pronged approach to each gathering: 1) celebrate important artist/author/genre, 2) support local artists, 3) expose new audiences to important cultural spaces, 4) encourage active participation and sharing from audiences.

Borderlands Ensemble: Creatives for Social Justice
a performance workshop with Dr. Jeanine Mingé
March 31, 2017
12:00 - 2:00 p.m.
The Empty Space
 

Dr. Jeanine Mingé, Associate Professor of Performance Studies at California State University, Northridge, and Director of CSUN's "Performance Ensemble: Creatives for Social Justice" will facilitate this workshop focus on experimenting with creating short semi-improvisational pieces around the theme of social justice, in honor of César Chávez Day. Faculty from the I-4C Collective and Innovative Inquiry in the Hugh Downs School and ASU will be working with Dr. Mingé.

Creatives for Social Justice gives students a creative outlet to build community with others who have identified issues in their communities and lives that call for an engaged response through embodied performance, and they have produced some amazing and powerful work that helps them and others process and respond to the world we live in.

Sponsored by the I-4C Collective and Innovative Inquiry, Hugh Downs School of Human Communication.

ASU will launch Borderlands Ensemble: Creatives for Social Justice for next year, and we invite you to join with us at this exciting time!

(photo credit: Jeanine Mingé with CSUN's Performance Ensemble: Creatives for Social Justice)

Teaching for Liberation: Strategies for Interrogating Race in the Classroom
Dr. Nicole Martin
March 17, 2017
12:00 - 1:30 p.m.
Stauffer 318

This interactive workshop prepares participants to facilitate challenging conversations in the classroom arising from discussions about race. Workshop attendees will explore foundational theories and concepts related to anti-racist pedagogy and instructional design. Through exploratory exercises and discussion, participants will gain tools to lead students in productive and responsible dialogue around race and racism.

Dr. Nicole Martin is a Faculty Instructional Consultant at the University of Kentucky’s Center for the Enhancement of Learning and Teaching (CELT). Her work focuses on creating equitable classroom spaces by weaving critical performative pedagogy into faculty development. Dr. Martin designs and conducts a workshop series on facilitating dialogue across racial and cultural differences. She consults with individual faculty members, departments, and administrative units to advance inclusive teaching practices across campus. Dr. Martin was a featured panelist at the 2016 University of Kentucky Inclusive Leadership Forum. She is currently producing a podcast miniseries that interrogates systemic inequities in higher education called Higher Justice, which will premiere in Spring 2017.

Dr. Martin received her Ph.D.  from UT-Austin in performance studies with an emphasis on critical race theory and Black feminism. Her scholarly and artistic projects investigate the erasures and recoveries of Black womanhood in theatrical archives, and her most recent writing on curatorial practices is featured in an independent publication associated with Duke University.

Celebrating Women!
an evening of performances in Honor of
Women's History Month
March 18, 2017
5:00 - 7:00 p.m.
The Empty Space

 

Past performances have included reading a favorite poem, blogpost, original essay or part of a book, fun facts about women in history, a dance, singing a song, playing an instrument, etc. Join us to honor Women's History Month! 

Help us celebrate the contributions that women have made to our lives. All sexes and genders are welcome! 

Current performers: Dr. Amira de la Garza, Chelsea McCasland, Cindy Dick, Shweta Maheshwari, Jennifer Linde, Da'Naeja Sutton, Kelsie Rivera, Elena Steiner, Amanda Nash, Reslie Cortes, Dr. Belle Edson, and James Stein.

This event is free to attend and all attendees will receive 1 free raffle ticket to win fabulous prizes. All proceeds will benefit The Sojourner Center in Phoenix, which provides shelter and support services to women and children affected by domestic violence. Refreshments will be provided.

Civil Dialogue
Spring 2017 "Living with Difficult Decisions"
Voices: Racial Justice
February 22, 2017
6:30-8:30 p.m.
The Empty Space

Civil Dialogue (CD) is a structured format for public dialogue that provides a tool to build bridges across the chasm of public viewpoints. CD can be used in multiple contexts to help people communicate in civil productive ways, especially when they face "hot topics" and need to employ "cool heads." In a Civil Dialogue session, volunteer participants consider a provocative statement and have the opportunity to embody a position on the statement ranging from "agree strongly" to "disagree strongly." Participants are asked to follow guidelines for civility that are explained by the facilitator. The dialogue is then extended to the broader audience who are encouraged to respond with their own opinions and questions. CD was developed by John Genette in 2004 and he, Jennifer Linde, and Clark Olson continue to develop the format at Arizona State University.

"Audience Front and Center:
Embodied Performances and Relational Politics"
February 9, 2017
7:00 p.m.
he Empty Space

Collectively and individually, Professors Pérez and Goltz will talk through key questions about the politics and relationality of “audience” in performance studies. This public event will consist of a two-tiered panel talk where both Perez and Goltz will discuss Gltz's current project looks at comic controversies and Internet outrage, and how communication aesthetics, identity, and the performativity of bodies are central, and often ignored, in how meanings are constructed by audiences.

Dustin Bradley Goltz, Ph.D., MFA, is an Associate Professor of Performance Studies in The College of Communication at DePaul University. He received his MFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and his Ph.D. from the Hugh Downs School of Human Communication, ASU. His research explores issues of queer temporalities and futurity, queer popular culture, the performance of personal narrative, performative patterns of critique, and global LGBTQ media advocacy. He is a scholar/artist and has authored several works, including Queer Temporalities in Gay Male Representation (Routledge 2009) and Queer Praxis: Questions For LGBTQ Worldmaking (2015). His forthcoming book, Comic Performativities: Identity, Internet Outrage, and The Aesthetics of Communication (Routledge).

Pérez's current project looks at the politics of intimacy and the shrinking of relationality within the context of neoliberalism. How might stage performance open possibilities to both examine and experience intimacy differently?

Kimberlee Pérez, Ph.D. is an assistant professor in performance studies in the department of communication at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She received her MA from the University of Maine and her Ph.D. from the Hugh Down Schools of Human Communication at Arizona State University. She performs, researches and teaches in the areas of performance, and queer and feminist of color studies. Her interests include the politics of belonging and coalition, intimacy, personal narrative, and solo performance. She is currently working on a book project titled Coming Together: Queer Intimacy in Performance.

This event is sponsored by the Intersections of Civil, Critical, and Creative Communication (I-4C), Hugh Downs School of Human Communication

Civil Dialogue
Spring 2017 "Living with Difficult Decisions" Series
People's State of the Union
facilitated by John Genette and Jennifer Linde
February 3, 2017
7:00 - 8:30 p.m.
The Empty Space

People’s State of the Union is a participatory event—a chance for you to give your own perspective on the state of the union. Our event will be one of the dozens nationwide. The evening begins with a performing artist sharing an original song or poem, then the audience breaks up into small, facilitated story circles, where every person will have three minutes to speak. We then come back together as one group to reflect on what we heard from others in our circles and for a concluding performance.

You are encouraged to RSVP so we know how many story circle facilitators we’ll need, and so you can receive helpful story development tips in advance, such as story prompts. (Example: “If you had three minutes with the president, what would you want to tell him?”)


Civil Dialogue
Spring 2017 "Living with Difficult Decisions" Series

Difficulty Decisions in Politics: Status of Women during the Trump Administration
February 1, 2017
6:30-8:30 p.m.
The Empty Space

Civil Dialogue (CD) is a structured format for public dialogue that provides a tool to build bridges across the chasm of public viewpoints. CD can be used in multiple contexts to help people communicate in civil productive ways, especially when they face "hot topics" and need to employ "cool heads." In a Civil Dialogue session, volunteer participants consider a provocative statement and have the opportunity to embody a position on the statement ranging from "agree strongly" to "disagree strongly." Participants are asked to follow guidelines for civility that are explained by the facilitator. The dialogue is then extended to the broader audience who are encouraged to respond with their own opinions and questions. CD was developed by John Genette in 2004 and he, Jennifer Linde, and Clark Olson continue to develop the format at Arizona State University.

THE ELECTION MONOLOGUES
A Nationwide Event of Unity & Resistance
January 20, 2017, Friday
7:00 p.m.
The Empty Space
 

The Hugh Downs School of Human Communication at ASU, in association with national event coordinators Tanya Taylor Rubenstein and Kerri Lowe, will present original monologues by a group of 8 participants from across the Valley, offering different perspectives on the 2016 presidential election.

On inauguration day in the United States, an event of resistance and unity will take place in 12 cities across the country, bringing together people to share their personal stories about the 2016 election.

Jennifer Linde and John Genette have facilitated the monologue process in coordination with Tanya Taylor Rubinstein and Kerri Lowe as part of a national effort to encourage conversations about the recent presidential election.  The work stems from Rubinstein's StoryHealers Transformational Monologue process. Rubinstein has facilitated this process with hundreds of groups, including people who have experienced cancer, veterans, caregivers and hospice workers, LGBTQ youth and Israeli and Palestinian young women.

This event is an opportunity to hear different perspectives on what the election of Donald Trump means to many types of individuals on a personal level. The aim is to humanize one another and offer a space for people to process through their intense feelings around this election. Everyone, no matter their political affiliation, are invited to participate and attend. All stories will be respected in this environment. We invite the press and the community to attend this once-in-a-lifetime event.

This performance contains adult language and themes.

Complete information can be found at www.ElectionMonologues.com or contact: John Genette, Hugh Downs School of Human Communication, at 480-595-9292 or john.genette@asu.edu

Film: A Way Out
Saturday, December 3, 2016, 4:00 p.m.
Sunday, December 4, 2016, 3:00 p.m.
Filmmaker: Rosalie Fisher

This documentary film is about the events that took place on August 20, 2013, at an Elementary School in Decatur, Georgia, when a young man came to the school with the intention of carrying out a mass shooting. The first person he came into contact with was a bookkeeper, who was able to talk him through the crisis and convince him to not follow through with the shooting. 

The film screening will be followed by a structured dialogue addressing audience reactions to the film and the impact this event has on the way we understand communication and crisis negotiation.  This event will last for approximately 2 hours.

Undergraduate Student Showcase
December 2, 2016
7:00 p.m.
The Empty Space

An evening of performances from the undergraduate performance studies classes: COM241, COM442, COM446.

"The F Word"
by Robert Adanto
November 22, 2016
7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. film screening
6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. reception
The Empty Space

Robert Adanto’s The F Word explores the radical "4th wave" feminist performance through interviews with a new generation of feminist artists who use their bodies as subject matter. Because the female body continues to be politicized and policed, and because these artists delve into the fecund territory of female sexuality, self-objectification, and the female form as a site of resistance, many remain marginalized by the mainstream art world. Brooklyn-based Leah Schrager, well known for her performance practice, Naked Therapy, states, "As soon as you introduce a bit of sexiness or sexuality into an artwork it suddenly becomes questionable. Just because something elicits arousal or shows elements of sexiness does absolutely not make it not art." While some 4th wave artists, like Ann Hirsch and Kate Durbin, choose to analyze representations of female identity through digital media, others, like the radical, queer, transnational feminist art collective, Go! Push Pops, explore sexuality and gender in pop culture in the digital age. As feminist lecturer Kristen Sollee explains, 4th wavers, unlike their predecessors, "are not afraid to be 'girly', (or) to be hyper-feminine, or to wear a mini-skirt, to self-objectify" in the service of challenging patriarchal oppression or sexist ideals.
(This film contains scenes of a sexual nature and is intended for mature audiences.)

Robert Adanto is a Los Angeles native currently based in South Florida. A classically-trained actor and documentary filmmaker, he earned his B.A. in Communication from ASU's Hugh Downs School of Human Communication and M.F.A. in Acting from New York University’s Graduate Acting Program.

As a filmmaker, he is interested in exploring how artists respond to rapid, sometimes catastrophic change. His documentaries have looked at China’s explosive contemporary art scene, the lives and works of Iranian female artists, and the impact of Hurricane Katrina on the lives of New Orleans-based artists. His films have screened at over 50 international film festivals and have been presented at both national and international art museums.

Creating Civil Dialogue
November 21, 2016
5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
The Empty Space

Students from COM692, Creating Civil Dialogue, will facilitate eight rounds of Civil Dialogue on a variety of important topics. Participants should plan to attend from either 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. or 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. or both sessions.

Please plan on attending the complete session so as not to disturb the interactive dialogue. The Empty Space is located at the NE corner of Rural and University, free parking

Cornucopia
November 4, 2016
3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Stauffer Hall, room 318

Cornucopia is a reading/performance event where HDSHC faculty, staff, and graduate students gather together to showcase their talents and creativity.  The venue consists of poems, stories, songs, dramatic monologues, personal narratives, etc.

Recovery
October 26, 2016
September 22, 2016

5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
The Empty Space

Stories reflect both the individual and collective human experience. Stories of recovery operate as embodied, performative, moments of communication that direct our attention to human experiences with addiction and provide frameworks for understanding alcohol dependency. Use, over-use, and sometimes abuse of alcohol exist as daily realities for many college students. This performance foregrounds student stories of recovery in order to shed light on the problem of alcoholism for college students and to generate a dialogue about the possibilities embedded in recovery.

"Recovery" is a trigger script compilation of quotations from narratives written by people who began their recovery from alcoholism while they were undergraduate students in Laitman, Lederman, and Silos’ book, "Voices of Recovery from the Campus." Additional resources include "Beyond the Bottle" by Linda C. Lederman and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration’s (SAMHSA) “Guiding Principles of Recovery.” Trigger scripting is a performance method developed at Arizona State University (Valentine, 1979, 1983) that targets specific topics/audiences for the purpose of public dialogue. 

Adapted and directed by Jennifer Linde from professor Linda Lederman's research on communication, storytelling, and recovery. Filmed April 9, 2016.

This event is sponsored by Recovery Rising at ASU.