Graduate Student, Drama
Thesis Title: Vital Spaces/Vital Signs: An Examination of Youth Performativity in the Urban Space
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Kerrie Schaefer
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About
My current research, in progress from 2009 to 2012, explores the ways in which young people are already 'performing' identities in the urban space, and uses drama-based methods to experiment with potential interventionist approaches.
The ultimate aim of the work is to open up spaces for dialogue between young adult populations and local authority or power structures. Examples of this kind of practical participatory work might include performing for cctv cameras, using abandoned consumer spaces as performance sites, and 'invisible' text performances around the city centre.
The research draws on theories of performativity set forth by Judith Butler and extended by theorists like Valerie Hey and Vikki Bell, but it also navigates between the fields of cultural geography (Thrift) and applied drama intervention (Kershaw, Nicholson), to give a few sample names from the fields.
I am always open to collaborative projects and conversations with others involved in this kind of work.
