Date of Award
8-1-2012
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy
Department
Speech Communication
First Advisor
Fletcher, Anne
Second Advisor
Pelias, Ronald
Abstract
This dissertation seeks to address the pivotal ecological and technological realities of the twenty-first century, currently giving rise to new patterns of existence and new paradigms of human inquiry. This study will ask how technological innovation and environmental urgency have altered the ways in which human beings think, and thus perceive the world around them, changing human behavior, or non-behavior, and calling forth new imperatives for the arts, and namely for the Theatre. Most significantly, the dissertation attempts to traverse the shadow-lands, between our ecologies and our technologies, exploring those essential points of convergence in the borderlands where Eco-Theatre and New Media must find a precious balance. As digital media and new technologies continue to transcend previously conceived barriers, so do new opportunities present themselves. New forms emerge, bridging cultures, facilitating connections of thought beyond national geographic boundaries. Rising to the challenge, seeking a global, even playing ground in a liminal age of shifting, invisible borders, this dissertation addresses the current need for re-envisioning of our positionality as artists, and as citizens of the world. In conclusion, the dissertation points toward a methodology of interdisciplinary creative collaboration, of global community-based social practice art, of theatre ecology, and of active new media strategies to address the needs of this decisive age.
Access
This dissertation is Open Access and may be downloaded by anyone.