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| Performance Studies international | |
|---|---|
| Name | Performance Studies international |
| Abbreviation | PSi |
| Formation | 1980s |
| Type | Scholarly association |
| Headquarters | Rotating |
| Region served | International |
| Leader title | Steering Committee |
Performance Studies international is a global scholarly association that brings together researchers, practitioners, and educators in performance studies and related areas such as theatre studies, dance studies, anthropology, sociology, and media studies. Founded in the late 20th century amid debates around postmodernism, cultural studies, and the expansion of practice-led research, the organization fosters comparative work on performative practices across contexts including ritual, protest, festivals, and digital media.
The group emerged from dialogues among scholars tied to institutions like University of California, Berkeley, New York University, Goldsmiths, University of London, La Trobe University, and University of Toronto and intellectual currents associated with figures from Richard Schechner to Erving Goffman and networks linked to Performance Research and Theatre Journal. Early gatherings connected researchers conversant with methods from ethnography to semiotics and debates influenced by texts such as The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life, Theatre of the Oppressed, and writings by Victor Turner. Growth occurred through alliances with conferences at venues including Royal Holloway, University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, University of Amsterdam, National University of Singapore, and collaborations with organizations such as International Sociological Association and Association for Theatre in Higher Education.
The association is governed by an elected steering committee and local organizing committees drawn from scholars at institutions such as University of California, Los Angeles, King's College London, Monash University, University of Cape Town, and University of São Paulo. Individual membership encompasses faculty from Harvard University, University of Oxford, University of Chicago, doctoral candidates from Columbia University, University of Melbourne, independent practitioners connected to Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, and community artists linked to Ateneo de Manila University. The membership model supports regional nodes and working groups that engage with partners like UNESCO, European Research Council, Canada Council for the Arts, and national bodies such as Creative New Zealand.
The organization stages biennial international conferences hosted in cities including Berlin, Toronto, Cape Town, Melbourne, Singapore, and Buenos Aires with local venues often at universities like University College London and University of Buenos Aires. Conferences have featured keynote speakers affiliated with Yale University, University of California, Santa Cruz, Brown University, Stanford University, and practitioners from institutions such as National Theatre and Brooklyn Academy of Music. Events include panels on intersections with human rights law, public health, and urban planning and often coordinate with festivals like Edinburgh Festival Fringe and museums such as the Tate Modern or Museum of Anthropology, Vancouver.
Research spans themes of embodied practice, identity, performance and politics, migration, memory, affect, and technology, drawing on theorists and practitioners associated with Judith Butler, Michel Foucault, Homi K. Bhabha, Donna Haraway, and Paolo Freire. Methodological approaches integrate autoethnography, archival research related to collections at British Library, Bibliothèque nationale de France, and Smithsonian Institution, practice-as-research frameworks used at Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, and interdisciplinary techniques linked to visual anthropology and sound studies. Comparative projects have examined performative dimensions in contexts like Truth and Reconciliation Commission (South Africa), Arab Spring, Occupy Wall Street, and Carnival of Venice.
The organization produces edited volumes and proceedings published with presses including Routledge, Oxford University Press, Manchester University Press, Palgrave Macmillan, and journals such as TDR (The Drama Review), Performance Research, Theatre Topics, Cultural Anthropology, and Journal of Material Culture. Special issues have curated work by contributors affiliated with University of Exeter, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Peking University, and Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México and have addressed topics appearing in edited collections alongside scholarship from Cambridge University Press and Duke University Press.
The association and its affiliates have been associated with prizes and fellowships from bodies such as the Leverhulme Trust, Guggenheim Fellowship, British Academy, Australia Research Council, and awards given at partnering festivals like the Performer of the Year Award and institutional recognitions from American Council of Learned Societies. Individual members have received honors including the Turner Prize connections among artist-researchers, academic prizes such as the Spencer Fellowship, and civic awards from municipal cultural programs in cities like Barcelona, Lisbon, and Reykjavík.
The association has significantly shaped curricula at departments in institutions like University of Michigan, University of Warwick, New York University Tisch School of the Arts, Goldsmiths, and University of Cape Town and influenced interdisciplinary research agendas funded by agencies including the European Commission and National Endowment for the Humanities. Its conferences and publications have catalyzed collaborations between scholars and practitioners from organizations such as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, International Council of Museums, and arts institutions like Sydney Opera House and Kennedy Center, fostering research that bridges academic scholarship with activist practice, performance pedagogy, and cultural policy.
Category:Academic organisations