EXTENDED DEADLINE FOR Special Issue CFP: “Age and Performance: Expanding Intersectionality” (TRiC/RTaC) – March 1 2020

Theatre Research in Canada/ Recherches théâtrales au Canada

“Age and Performance: Expanding Intersectionality” 

Special Issue CFP 

Guest Editors: Benjamin Gillespie (Graduate Center, CUNY), Julia Henderson (University of British Columbia), Núria Casado-Gual (University of Lleida, Catalonia, Spain)

As aging populations continue to expand rapidly, generating what Robert N. Butler has called the “longevity revolution,” cultural awareness is growing about the systemic cultural inequities restricting and repressing older people. The expanding field of humanities-based age studies has begun to explore how normative cultural expectations surrounding age (frequently translated into assumptions about how to “act one’s age”) not only pose limits on older people, but also condition perceptions (and prejudices) about all ages across the life course. In comparison to other aspects of identity such as gender, sexuality, race, or ability, age often remains ignored. In the words of age studies pioneer Margaret Morganroth Gullette, age is “entrenched in implicit systems of discrimination without adequate movements of resistance to oppose them” (15). Elinor Fuchs, one of the first scholars to explicitly incorporate an age-studies perspective in theatre research, contends that “the dividing line between youth and age is constantly elusive,” precisely because age, contrary to other markers of identity, is an overtly dynamic category based on two contradictory principles: change and continuity (70).

Scholars working within cultural age studies have started to address age as a point of intersection across many disciplines. However, as Valerie Barnes Lipscomb affirms, “theatre has lagged behind, focusing more on theatre projects with older people than on theorizing age” (193). This special issue seeks to understand theatre’s role in, and potential for, reinforcing and resisting ageism as well as the so-called narrative of decline that favours a negative view of old age (Gullette 2004) . Expanding theatre and performance research to incorporate age-studies perspectives will illuminate the constructedness of age and increase our understanding of the diverse phenomenon of aging and its performative qualities. As Michael Mangan demonstrates in his monograph Staging Ageing: Theatre, Performance and the Narrative of Decline, many of the concerns shared by theatre scholars and artists, including issues of empathy or subjectivity in drama and performance, are inherently involved in perceiving age identity (though such perceptions often remain unconscious).

Foregrounding the intersections of theatre, performance, and cultural age studies, this will be the first journal special issue to focus specifically on the role of age in Canadian theatre and performance. The issue will explore age identities across the life course and investigate ageism and its resistance through questions of temporality, aesthetics, embodiment, difference, language, performance, and performativity.

Article submissions may engage with some of the following questions:

 Following the work of Kathleen Woodward and Anne Davis Basting, how do perfomative renderings of aging and theatrical casting practices help us read the aging      body on and off stage?
● How do performances of gender, sexuality, race, and ability intersect with age performance and performativity?
● In what ways do live theatre and performance challenge us to spectate age differently in relation to other cultural forms such as film?
● How are stereotypical representations of aging overcome by the work of contemporary playwrights, theatre companies, directors, or actors?
● What new understandings of age and across life course emerge out of theatre and performance practices?

Submissions of 300-word abstracts should be sent by March 1st 2020, by email to: ageperformancetric@gmail.com, copied to the TRiC editorial office at tric.rtac@utoronto.ca. TRIC/RTAC is a bilingual journal, and we welcome submissions in both English and French. For detailed submission guidelines see: http://tricrtac.ca/en/for-authors/. The issue is scheduled to appear in November 2021.

 

Theatre Research in Canada/ Recherches théâtrales au Canada

Numéro thématique : « Au croisement de l’âge et de la performance » 

Appel à contributions

 

Directeurs du numéro : Benjamin Gillespie (Graduate Center, CUNY), Julia Henderson (University of British Columbia), Núria Casado-Gual (Université de Lleida, Catalogne, Espagne)

 

À mesure que les populations vieillissantes continuent de croître avec rapidité, engendrant ce que Robert N. Butler appelle la « révolution de la longévité », une prise de conscience s’effectue quant aux inégalités culturelles systémiques dont les personnes plus âgées sont la cible. Les chercheurs en études sur le vieillissement, un domaine en sciences humaines en plein essor en ce moment, ont commencé à explorer de quelles façons les attentes culturelles normatives liées à l’âge (comment l’on doit agir en fonction de son âge, par exemple) imposent des limites sur les personnes plus âgées et conditionnent nos perceptions de la vieillesse (et nos préjugés à son égard). Comparativement à d’autres aspects de l’identité — le genre, la sexualité, la race ou les capacités, par exemple —, on s’est peu intéressé jusqu’ici à l’âge. Or, selon Margaret Morganroth Gullette, pionnière des études sur le vieillissement, l’âge est « ancré dans des systèmes implicites de discrimination pour lesquels il n’existe pas de mouvement de résistance adéquat » (15, traduction). Elinor Fuchs, une des premières chercheures à intégrer explicitement la perspective des études sur le vieillissement en recherches théâtrales, affirme quant à elle que « la ligne de démarcation entre la jeunesse et la vieillesse continue de nous échapper » parce que contrairement aux autres marqueurs identitaires, il s’agit d’une catégorie ouvertement dynamique fondée sur deux principes contradictoires : le changement et la continuité (70, traduction).

 

Les chercheurs qui s’intéressent aux aspects culturels des études sur le vieillissement ont commencé à se servir de l’âge comme point de rencontre entre de nombreuses disciplines. Or, Valerie Barnes Lipscomb fait valoir que « le théâtre accuse du retard à ce chapitre, s’intéressant davantage aux projets de théâtre auxquels participent des personnes âgées qu’à la théorisation du vieillissement » (193, traduction). Ce numéro thématique cherche à comprendre le rôle et le potentiel du théâtre dans le renforcement de la discrimination fondée sur l’âge et la résistance à celle-ci, de même que son rôle dans les récits de déclin qui mettent de l’avant une vision négative de la vieillesse (Gullette 2004). En élargissant le champ de recherche des études théâtrales et des études de la performance de sorte à y intégrer des perspectives empruntées aux études sur le vieillissement, nous pourrons mieux comprendre la construction de l’âge, de même que les divers phénomènes liés au vieillissement et ses qualités performatives. Comme le démontre Michael Mangan dans sa monographie Staging Ageing: Theatre, Performance and té Narrative of Decline, bon nombre des préoccupations qu’ont en commun les chercheurs en théâtre et les artistes de ce milieu — l’empathie et la subjectivité en théâtre et sur scène, par exemple — sont intrinsèquement engagées dans la perception de l’identité conditionnée par l’âge (même si celle-ci demeure souvent inconsciente).

 

Situé au croisement des études du théâtre, de la performance et du vieillissement en lien avec la culture, ce numéro thématique sera le premier à porter spécifiquement sur le rôle que joue l’âge dans le contexte du théâtre et de la performance au Canada. Il s’intéressera aux identités liées à l’âge tout au long du parcours de vie et s’interrogera sur la discrimination fondée sur l’âge et la résistance à celle-ci en s’attardant à des enjeux liés à la temporalité, à l’esthétique, à l’incarnation, à la différence, à la langue, à la performance et à la performativité.

 

Les propositions pourront explorer les pistes suivantes (la liste n’est pas exhaustive) : 

  • En suivant les réflexions de Kathleen Woodward et Anne Davis Basting, comment les représentations sur scène du vieillissement et les pratiques de distribution des rôles en théâtre nous aident-elles à lire le corps vieillissant sur scène et hors scène?
  • Comment les performances liées au genre, à la sexualité, à la race et aux capacités recoupent-elles les performances liées à l’âge et la performativité?
  • En quoi les arts vivants nous incitent-ils à regarder l’âge autrement que le font d’autres formes culturelles comme le cinéma?
  • Comment les dramaturges, les compagnies théâtrales, les metteurs en scène ou les comédiens de l’époque contemporaine réussissent-ils à surmonter les stéréotypes associés au vieillissement?
  • Quelles nouvelles conceptions de l’âge et du parcours de vie émergent des pratiques employées en théâtre et en performance?

 

Nous invitons les personnes intéressées à soumettre par courriel un résumé d’article de 300 mots d’ici le 1er mars 2020 à l’adresse ageperformancetric@gmail.com, avec copie conforme à l’équipe éditoriale de la revue au tric.rtac@utoronto.ca.

Comme RTaC est une revue bilingue, vous êtes libres de proposer une contribution en français ou en anglais.

Pour prendre connaissance de notre guide de présentation d’un article, allez au https://tricrtac.ca/fr/for-authors/.

La parution du numéro est prévue pour Novembre 2021.

New report on the affordability of mobile services in Canada

ACT researchers Catherine Middleton, Kim Sawchuk, Constance Lafontaine, Scott DeJong and Julia Henderson submitted a report as part of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission’s (CRTC) review of the affordability of mobile devices in Canada (2019-57) on October 23. ACT researchers conducted 62 interviews with older adults in four provinces over the span of four months and drew from data gathered in the ACT longitudinal study. Their analysis suggests that the current pricing system makes mobile services unaffordable to many older Canadians, particularly to older adults living with low income. You can download it here (PDF).

The October 2019 report follows complementary initial report submitted on May 15 2019, available here (PDF).

New report to British Columbia government on mobile services

ACT researchers were invited by the British Columbia government to submit an intervention as part of the province’s public engagement and legislative review to identify ways to improve cell phone contract and billing transparency. The ACT report, titled “Fair Sales Practices and Affordable Services: The Cell Phone Needs of Canadian Seniors,” emphasizes the need for challenging the current telecommunication landscape, ending aggressive and misleading sales practices, and providing affordable mobile services to all Canadians.

“B/OLD: Aging in our city-Vieillir dans notre ville”

 

By Bipasha Sultana

Thinking about age-friendly cities across communities

Put forth by Concordia’s ACT (Ageing, Communication, Technology) and engAGE, the Centre for Research on Aging, B/OLD is a trilingual (English, French, LSQ) event series that is open to the public, offering a multitude of thought-provoking events. These include panels and keynotes, creative workshops and activities, as well as art exhibitions and kiosks, some of which will be held in Concordia’s newly launched 4th Space.

One of the primary aims of this event lies in forging intersectoral connections between academic researchers, community groups, policy makers and local citizens. This is reflected in panels featuring an eclectic list of speakers, including a discussion between community leaders and city politicians, titled “What is an age friendly city?”

Kim Sawchuk, director of ACT and professor in the Department of Communication Studies, points out: “Our goal is to bring community groups, decisions makers, researchers, activists and citizens into conversation with one another. We hope that B/OLD is the start of a conversation.”

B/OLD also aims to bridge the age-segregation that has falsely come to define certain spaces, particularly campus spaces often occupied by – but by no means restricted to – young adult students.

Provoking conversations through fun activities

In an effort to disrupt the age-specific homogeneity of campus spaces, creative workshops and activities offered during B/OLD are tailored to all age groups, with a keen focus on issues unique to the older adult population. For instance, a Graffiti Workshop invites participants to engage in an intergenerational artistic collaboration to address the question of “who is allowed to leave their mark on the city?”

Visitors can also look forward to a much-anticipated “Escape Room on Elder Abuse”. Escape rooms are live-action, collaborative games that ask players to search for clues in order to solve physical and mental puzzles as they move through a room. Solving the puzzles leads players to exit the room and win the game. B/OLD’s escape room was designed to offer an accessible and engaging way for players to identify clues of abuse commonly experienced by vulnerable older adults, with the end goal of recognizing and symbolically “escaping” the game’s cycle of abuse.

Exploring a sensitive topic like elder abuse through an Escape Room helps participants engage in active, hands-on learning to recognize the subtleties of elder abuse.

According to Shannon Hebblewaite, director of engAGE and associate professor in the Department of Applied Human Sciences, “B/OLD is a collaborative effort to its core. We are pleased to create opportunities to exchange knowledge and learn from one another. By bringing together older adults, researchers, and policy makers to share their perspectives on aging in the city, we expect some lively conversations that will help ground research and practice in a better understanding of older people themselves.”

B/OLD: Aging in our city, is open to the public and will be taking place on May 16th and 17th throughout the SGW campus and in the 4th Space. You can find out more about the event’s programming on the B/OLD website.

Creative Methods In Ageing Studies Research Symposium: Call For Papers

Centre for Women, Ageing, and Media is proud to announce its’ Creative Methods in Ageing Studies Research Symposium, which will take place on Wednesday, the 24th of July at the University of Gloucestershire. The call for papers is now open, the deadline to submit is April 30th, 2019.

Proposals are invited for 20-minute papers addressing an aspect of the symposium theme: “Creative Research Methods in Ageing Studies.” Proposals may address any of the following methodological approaches, address them from multiple methods perspectives or suggest alternative creative methods not covered below:

– Visual and performing arts

– Creative writing / lifewriting

– Music, arts and crafts

– Participatory, decolonising, activist and/or community-based methods

– Digital methods

– Reflective/autoethnographic methods

To apply, send proposals to wambookings@glos.ac.uk by April 30th, 2019.

For any additional information email Dr. Hannah Grust at hgrist@glos.ac.uk