UMS in the Classroom: Urban Bush Women

By UMS

Interested in using a UMS performance in your university classroom? For each performance on the season, we provide suggested curricular connections, links to contextual material online, citations for scholarly material, and prompts for classroom discussion. For additional resources and individualized curricular support, please contact Shannon Fitzsimons Moen, UMS Campus Engagement Specialist, at skfitz@umich.edu or (734) 764-3903.

UMS is also committed to making our performances an affordable part of the academic experience. Our Classroom Ticket Program provides $15 tickets to students and faculty for performances that are a course requirement. Please email umsclasstickets@umich.edu to set up a group order.

Connect:

This performance may connect meaningfully with courses in the following schools and disciplines:

Afroamerican and African Studies
American Culture
Anthropology
Comparative Literature
English Language and Literature
History
History of Art
Intergroup Relations
Political Science
Sociology
Women’s Studies
Composition
Theatre & Drama
Musical Theatre
Dance
Performing Arts Technology
Education
Kinesiology
Social Work

Explore:

Read a case study from Animating Democracy on The Hair Parties Project, a community engagement project developed by Urban Bush Women to accompany Hair & Other Stories.
Explore the history of Urban Bush Women in Nadine George-Graves’ Urban Bush Women: 20 Years of African-American Dance Theater, Community Engagement and Working it Out (2010, University of Wisconsin Press).

Reflect:

How does Hair & Other Stories complicate your understanding of African-American women’s lives? How does the lens of hair provide insight into issues of race, gender and class?
Hair & Other Stories is a multi-disciplinary work incorporating theatre and dance; the creative team includes both a theatre director and a choreographer. How did you see the two forms working together to develop the meaning of the work? How might you imagine the collaboration between director and choreographer?