MANJARI MUKHERJEE
Decolonizing the Classroom
Engaging students on the level of their interests is as important in a large lecture as it is in a small seminar. I consistently try to “decolonize the classroom” by embracing scholars, such as Sara Ahmed’s teaching philosophies. For instance, my syllabus is an introductory course for several scholars and artists of color from across the globe. In each of my classes, I try to create a classroom culture that gives weight to individual participation that includes active listening and not only active speaking. This creation of a collaborative pedagogical space is perhaps the most exciting aspect of my teaching experience.
What I enjoy most about teaching is the variety in what we do, the various roles that we take on, in the classroom, during office hours, and in less structured ways. In any class I teach, I always seek to create a spirit in the classroom that fosters inquiry. This spirit is evident in students’ desire to carry with them aspects of the course that were useful to them in broadening their thinking, deepening their knowledge, and heightening their curiosity, and love for Theatre and Performance Studies.
Teaching Experience
Bollywood Dance: Race, Religion, & Nation
Tufts University
This course is a selective introduction to the history of bollywood dance from the 1930s to the 2020s. It focuses on the aesthetic labor of actresses, dancers, and playback singers in song-and-dance sequences, visual representations, and performance choreographies. We will place individual films within their larger historical, socio-political, and aesthetic contexts; study the categories of race and ethnicity, religion and morality, and desire and gendered citizenship of the subcontinent; and develop descriptive and creative ways of expressing our analyses.
Queer Nationhood: Art, Performance, and the Body
Experimental College
Tufts University
What does it mean to belong to a nation? How can we think of this belonging queerly? Can we consider art and aesthetics as theoretical models to analyze categories of citizenship, nationhood, and political movements? Using a feminist, queer, and theatre and performance theory, we study the various ways of belonging and performing citizenship. Through the aesthetics of performances, films, theatre, and photographs, we revisit conceptions of desire, race and ethnicity, gender and sexuality, and citizenship. In this course, we study how theory is formed and store in the flesh/in our bodies.
Introduction to Theatre History
Tufts University
The course covers a wide range of topics—musicals, plays, performance art, protests, manifestos, ancient and epic theatre, and even Sufi music. Offering insight into the vast variety of performances that exist within and beyond the proscenium stage. Inherently interdisciplinary, the course draws theories from anthropology, linguistics, ritual studies, and feminist and queer studies that inform and broaden our understanding of theatre and performance.
Introduction to the Study of Theatre and Performance
Boston University
An introductory course that focuses on critically analyzing play texts, writing performance reviews, and developing artist repertoires. As part of the course, students watch several plays in the Boston area, read a variety of play texts, and frame them within larger socio-political and theoretical frameworks, such as race, gender, citizenship, and more.
Introduction to Acting Methods
Tufts University
The course design frames acting as a sensory and embodied experience. Rather than following one type of acting method, the course allows for students' senses and embodied knowledge to drive their acting practices.
Summer Courses and Teaching Assistantantship
Public Speaking
Summer 2024
Tufts University
Fall 2020
Queer South Asia
Teaching Assistant,
Kareem Khubchandani
Tufts University