The Performance Studies Research Group

Western's Performance Studies Research Group is an interdisciplinary body made up of more than twenty scholars - both faculty and graduate students - from across the university. We meet twice per term, organizing our gatherings around shared readings from current debates in performance-related disciplines, the presentation of research by members, and lectures by visiting or in-house speakers. While we do not adhere rigorously to the formal definition of "performance studies" emerging from the discipline's American school (developed by Richard Schechner et al, and maintained by such bodies as TDR and Performance Studies International), we come together in our common faith in what Diana Taylor calls performance's power to enact theory, and theory's power to perform "in the public sphere." Our definition of performance is as flexible as the scholars who number among us, and we always welcome new members. For more information, please contact Dr. Kim Solga.