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Woodbury Philosophy Professor Awarded Diversity Curriculum Grant

PHILOSOPHY PROFESSOR ROSSEN VENTZISLAVOV AWARDED PRESTIGIOUS DIVERSITY CURRICULUM GRANT

The American Society for Aesthetics has awarded Professor Ventzislavov’s project, “The Aesthetics of Performance,” with funding support. Dr. Ventzislavov’s project seeks to create an interdisciplinary pedagogical platform that will enrich students’ perspectives on performance art and capitalize on its diversifying energy. He explains that while the philosophical canon provides a fair start for the reconsideration of performance art, it lacks in specific topical engagement. This is why Dr. Ventzislavov’s class is incorporating both foundational texts and also lesser known ones. The grant project is particularly focused on writings from underrepresented precincts of philosophy, art history and art criticism—women, international scholars, and sexual and ethnic minorities. This inclusive selection method suggests that performance art’s pluralistic ethos demands an equally pluralistic approach. Class sessions explore three main topics—the conceptual, the aesthetic and the political. The readings are dialogically positioned—the first in each pair serving as an example of a canonical position and the second as a relevant recent counterpart. The tension in each juxtaposition is motivated by the pedagogical merit of such staged comparisons—the curiosities they awaken, the classroom discussions they inspire, and the insight they yield.

 

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