Join us for "Racial Literacy and Performative Pedagogies in the World Language Theater Practicum," a sabbatical lecture by Morgan Koerner.

For at least 30 years, scholars in world language education have made a compelling case for the power of roleplay and theater work as both a catalyst for student engagement and language learning and a gateway into literary and dramatic form. But what are the potential and pitfalls of such performative pedagogies when the course content addresses issues of race and racism and when racial literacy is an explicit learning goal?

Koerner's talk, based on research completed during a 2023-24 sabbatical, explores this question by presenting a case study from a performance-oriented teaching unit in an upper-level German theater practicum course, which combined work on performing and staging poetry in German with a discussion of the Enlightenment's entanglement with white supremacy and scientific racism.