This biannual learning unit is being organized in 2026-2027
Teacher(s)
Language
French
Prerequisites
/
Main themes
Relations between drama and governments, territorial entities, communities and market forces. The theatre is studied both as an institution and as a privileged location in the city, a space for exchanges with the public, a locus of collective creativity. From the status of the actor to the place of the text, the conditions of elaboration and intervention are investigated.
Learning outcomes
At the end of this learning unit, the student is able to : | |
| 1 |
The development of an understanding of the political, economic and social environment of the stage arts at local, national and European level. |
Content
The course approaches the sociology of the performing arts through concepts and methods drawn from sociology, political theory, and performance studies. Each session examines a particular dimension of the relationship between the performing arts—including theatre, dance, music, opera, performance art, and artivism—and their social, political, economic, and institutional environments. Particular attention is given to questions of power, cultural institutions and policies, artistic labour, funding, audiences, representation, identity, and access to culture. Examples are drawn mainly from European contexts, with particular attention to Belgium. Students’ own experiences and historical knowledge are mobilised throughout the course to support discussion, clarify concepts, and encourage critical engagement with theoretical perspectives.
Through close readings, lectures, oral presentations, group discussions and debates, as well as case studies and video screenings, students will analyse both artistic performances and the social and institutional contexts in which they are produced, circulated, and received. Discussions of theoretical texts, performances, and contemporary cases are designed to develop students’ ability to understand and critically communicate theoretical arguments, apply sociological concepts to concrete examples, and establish connections between artistic practices and broader social and political issues. By the end of the course, students will have developed analytical skills enabling them to examine the performing arts as social practices and to assess how artists, cultural workers, institutions, audiences, and performances interact with broader structures of power, representation, inequality, and social and political change.
1. History and Foundations of the Sociology of Theatre
Through close readings, lectures, oral presentations, group discussions and debates, as well as case studies and video screenings, students will analyse both artistic performances and the social and institutional contexts in which they are produced, circulated, and received. Discussions of theoretical texts, performances, and contemporary cases are designed to develop students’ ability to understand and critically communicate theoretical arguments, apply sociological concepts to concrete examples, and establish connections between artistic practices and broader social and political issues. By the end of the course, students will have developed analytical skills enabling them to examine the performing arts as social practices and to assess how artists, cultural workers, institutions, audiences, and performances interact with broader structures of power, representation, inequality, and social and political change.
1. History and Foundations of the Sociology of Theatre
- Historical development of the sociology of theatre and the performing arts
- Major approaches, concepts, and disciplinary traditions
- From theatre sociology to broader sociological and performance-based approaches
- Theories and models of democracy
- Power, ideology, political and artistic representation
- Performance, political conflict, and democratic participation
- Economic conditions, cultural policy, funding, and artistic production
- Artists and cultural workers: status, labour, and precarity
- Theatres, festivals, institutions, and independent practices
- Public space, public sphere, and performance
- Artistic intervention, protest, assembly, and occupation
- Consensus, conflict, dissensus, and agonism
- The social construction of audiences and publics
- Tension, affect, identification, and collective experience
- Community-building, belonging, participation, and exclusion
- The social construction and performance of bodies
- Gender, race, class, migration, identity, and belonging
- Performance as reproduction or contestation of norms and inequalities
- Contemporary social and political conflicts
- Activism, protest, polarisation, and collective action
- The capacity and limits of performance to transform social relations
- Cultural mediation, criticism, media, and public discourse
- Programming, festivals, canon formation, and artistic legitimacy
- Visibility, circulation, memory, and social recognition
Teaching methods
The course is based on a participatory and peer-to-peer learning approach, combining lectures, close readings, student presentations, debates, case studies, and performance analysis. The introductory session presents the main concepts, themes, and methodological approaches of the course.
From the following session onward, each class begins with a brief recap of the previous week, allowing key concepts to be revisited, possible misunderstandings to be clarified, and connections to be established with the new topic. The session then continues with a student presentation of an assigned theoretical text, followed by a debate prepared and moderated by other students. This format is designed to foster peer learning, active participation, critical discussion, and the progressive application of theoretical concepts to concrete issues related to the performing arts and their social, political, and institutional contexts.
From the following session onward, each class begins with a brief recap of the previous week, allowing key concepts to be revisited, possible misunderstandings to be clarified, and connections to be established with the new topic. The session then continues with a student presentation of an assigned theoretical text, followed by a debate prepared and moderated by other students. This format is designed to foster peer learning, active participation, critical discussion, and the progressive application of theoretical concepts to concrete issues related to the performing arts and their social, political, and institutional contexts.
Evaluation methods
The final grade is based on four components:
1. Class attendance and participation in discussions – 10%
Active presence in class and regular contributions to group discussions are taken into account in the assessment.
2. Oral presentation – 30%
Each student presents one theoretical text selected from the course readings. The presentation should identify the text’s main arguments, explain its key concepts, and demonstrate their relevance to the sociology of the performing arts, including theatre, dance, music, and art activism. The aim is to develop students’ ability to understand, synthesise, and critically communicate theoretical arguments and to relate them to concrete questions concerning artistic practices, artists and cultural workers, institutions, audiences, and the broader social and political contexts in which the performing arts operate.
3. Debate preparation and participation – 10%
Based on the assigned readings, each student prepares questions relating to one of the course texts, designed to stimulate and structure group discussion. The aim is to develop students’ ability to engage critically with theoretical texts and to establish connections between concepts encountered during the course, the performing arts, and broader contemporary social and political issues.
4. Final individual paper – 50%
The final paper consists of an individual research paper on a topic related to the sociology of theatre and performance. Students may either examine a specific aspect of the field of the performing arts or analyse an artistic performance from a sociological perspective. The paper should mobilise concepts and analytical tools encountered during the course and, where relevant, draw more broadly on the humanities and social sciences. Maximum length: 5 pages, including footnotes but excluding illustrations. The paper should be formatted in Times New Roman, 12-point font, double-spaced.
Possible topics include the social and professional conditions of actors and other performing-arts workers; the role of theatres, festivals, cultural institutions, and funding structures; relationships between artists, institutions, and audiences; access to culture and the social composition of audiences; representation and diversity within theatre and cultural institutions; or the ways in which contemporary performances engage with issues such as migration, gender, racism, social inequality, class, identity, exclusion, and political conflict. Students may also focus on how particular performances reproduce, question, or transform social norms, power relations, collective representations, and forms of participation in public life.
1. Class attendance and participation in discussions – 10%
Active presence in class and regular contributions to group discussions are taken into account in the assessment.
2. Oral presentation – 30%
Each student presents one theoretical text selected from the course readings. The presentation should identify the text’s main arguments, explain its key concepts, and demonstrate their relevance to the sociology of the performing arts, including theatre, dance, music, and art activism. The aim is to develop students’ ability to understand, synthesise, and critically communicate theoretical arguments and to relate them to concrete questions concerning artistic practices, artists and cultural workers, institutions, audiences, and the broader social and political contexts in which the performing arts operate.
3. Debate preparation and participation – 10%
Based on the assigned readings, each student prepares questions relating to one of the course texts, designed to stimulate and structure group discussion. The aim is to develop students’ ability to engage critically with theoretical texts and to establish connections between concepts encountered during the course, the performing arts, and broader contemporary social and political issues.
4. Final individual paper – 50%
The final paper consists of an individual research paper on a topic related to the sociology of theatre and performance. Students may either examine a specific aspect of the field of the performing arts or analyse an artistic performance from a sociological perspective. The paper should mobilise concepts and analytical tools encountered during the course and, where relevant, draw more broadly on the humanities and social sciences. Maximum length: 5 pages, including footnotes but excluding illustrations. The paper should be formatted in Times New Roman, 12-point font, double-spaced.
Possible topics include the social and professional conditions of actors and other performing-arts workers; the role of theatres, festivals, cultural institutions, and funding structures; relationships between artists, institutions, and audiences; access to culture and the social composition of audiences; representation and diversity within theatre and cultural institutions; or the ways in which contemporary performances engage with issues such as migration, gender, racism, social inequality, class, identity, exclusion, and political conflict. Students may also focus on how particular performances reproduce, question, or transform social norms, power relations, collective representations, and forms of participation in public life.
Other information
Respect and inclusivity are essential to fostering a positive and productive learning environment, and everyone is expected to contribute to this. No form of discrimination will be tolerated on the basis of language, name, colour, gender, religion, sexual orientation, disability, age, or any other personal or social characteristic.
Bibliography
Les références bibliographiques et documentaires liées au cours seront fournies progressivement au fil du semestre. Elles pourront comprendre des chapitres d’ouvrages, des articles scientifiques évalués par les pairs, des extraits de monographies, des rapports, des entretiens, des documents de première main, des ressources audiovisuelles ainsi que des liens vers des ressources en ligne pertinentes.
Faculty or entity
