Black feminist performance praxis is an upper-division undergraduate course that examines the relationship between Black feminist theory and performance to understand how historical and contemporary solo performances by Black women put Black feminism into practice. Drawing on Black feminist theory, performance studies, and queer studies, this course examines Black feminism as a political framework and its influence on Black women performance artists, writers, and organizers.

Through intensive reading, discussion, and collaborative peer-to-peer performance creation, students will analyze diverse examples of Black feminist performance praxis across performance, writing, and cultural organizing, analyzing Black feminist performance praxis as a political framework that shapes the work of Black women cultural practitioners in the U.S. Ultimately, the course asks students to consider performance as a means of engaging in political and social critique, while also serving as a method of worldbuilding.

Students will study five distinct Black feminist performance artists and their interdisciplinary practices—including Blondell Cummings, Jill Scott, Omi Osun Joni L. Jones, Jenn Freeman/Po’Chop, and Ebony Noelle Gordon each practitioner offers a unique model of Black feminist performance praxis grounded in Black feminist commitments to community, autonomy, and transformative worldmaking. Students will engage with writings from adrienne marie brown, Alexis Pauline Gumbs, Tara Aisha Willis, Terrion L. Williamson, the Combahee River Collective, Emilie Townes, E. Patrick Johnson, and others.

As a final project, students will curate an evening performance featuring solo or group performances open to the UT and broader Austin community.