Civil Dialogue™ “Hot Topics, Cool Heads”
first Wednesday of each month
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 and 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. John Genette developed CD in 2004, and he, Jennifer Linde, and Clark Olson continue to develop the format at Arizona State University. For more information visit Civil-Dialogue.org.
The Encyclopedia Show AZ
Monthly performances throughout the year
The Encyclopedia Show is a monthly, multi-genre, age-integrated presentation of creative performances on a central theme taken from an ACTUAL encyclopedia. It is probably best to think of it as part open mic, part variety show! Each performer is assigned a specific subset of the central theme on which to write and perform. Thus, The Encyclopedia Show is a live variety extravaganza that commissions local and touring artists from many artistic disciplines to focus their individual talents toward the noble endeavor of delivering your knowledge in a fun and creative format.
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, Eric Dern. Learn more about the encyclopediashowAZ.com.
A Good Death, written and performed by Lou Clark
October 4, 5, 6
A Good Death is a performance piece that explores the intersections of compassion and labor through the eyes of hospice care workers. Scholarship by Dr. Deborah Way is melded with Clark’s autoethnographic account of her own experiences of loss, love, and work as she recognizes, relates and re(acts) to the timeless question of what constitutes a good death.
Cornucopia
November 8
Cornucopia is an annual performance/reading hour featuring faculty, graduate students, and staff.
Putting My Halo On: A Normalization of Suffering
December 5
Mimi Ringness, recipient of the 2013 Kristin Bervig Valentine Scholarship in Performance Studies, will present a solo performance she developed as part of an independent study with Jennifer Linde on narrative performance and identity. Mimi’s performance will explore the topic of suffering as it is reflexively embodied—physically, mentally, and emotionally.
The Undergraduate Student Showcase in Performance Studies
December 6
This showcase will feature performance studies students from COM241, COM341, COM442, COM445 & COM 494.
Laughing with Linda: A Workshop on the Embodied Performance of Laughter
February 26
Dr. Linda Park-Fuller will discuss, demonstrate and lead participants through the communicative and creative practice of laughter. How do we release emotion and explore joy through laughter? Are there physical and mental health benefits to a good belly-laugh? How might laughing yoga bring us closer to others while simultaneously helping us understand ourselves more deeply? Can laughing practice make us more creative?
The Gospel According to Josh
March 20
Co-sponsored by the Graduate and Professional Student Association, ASU Health and Wellness, the Health and Counseling Student Action Committee, and the Hugh Downs School of Human Communication.
Josh Rivedal thought he’d have the perfect life by age 25 – singing on Broadway, his own television show. Instead, his resume is filled with minor league theatre and an appearance on The Maury Povich Show – a career sidetracked by his father’s suicide and a messy lawsuit from his mother. Finding himself on the ledge of a fourth-floor window, he reaches out to the only person who can help him before it’s too late
The Gospel According to Josh is a 30 character, seven-song one-man show based on his book; now on The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention’s recommended reading list for survivors of suicide loss.
Build-a-Babe: an interactive installation exploring Seventeen’s notion of the perfect woman
Designed and presented by Darcy Fuller
For partial completion of her Creative Honors Project, Darcy Fuller has designed and built an interactive art installation that examines the topics of male gaze, objectification theory and body dissatisfaction. Darcy’s work offers a critical examination of the advice column “Hot Guy Panel” in Seventeen magazine.
Striking the Fourth Wall, written and performed by Daniel Lennie
April 25, 26
Dan Lennie presents solo performance work developed in an independent study in spring 2014 with Jennifer Linde. Dan's performance explores the influence that humor has had on his creative path from "actor" to "speech competitor" to "performer.
The Undergraduate Student Showcase and Awards, May 2
May 2
An evening of performances from the undergraduate performance studies classes: COM241, COM442, COM446.
Family Cries: transforming grief through poetry and music, written and performed by John Genette
May 3, 4
In 1945, a young mother lost her first child to leukemia. With no one to talk to, she wrote poetry to express her profound grief. Years later, her instinct to use art for healing was passed on to her son, John, who processes grief by writing songs -- even humorous ones! As part of his own journey, John has adapted his mother’s poems as song lyrics set to his original acoustic music. Bringing her heartfelt work to life in another dimension has deepened his appreciation of her creative process and how it helped her cope with seemingly unbearable loss.
John has explored these themes in two earlier shows at The Empty Space, both directed by Jennifer Linde. He shared some of his original songs in the 2004 production, “Outlets: making music as a way out of the "'Dark Night of the Soul,’” and he presented his mother’s poems in the 2010 production “Evening Song” with Linda Park-Fuller. “Family Cries” weaves the artistry of mother and son together in a one-hour presentation that includes new material and spans nearly 70 years of family experiences. John's Songs