Poetry Jam and Slam

Department - LART
Offered - Fall, Spring
Course number - LENG-450

Poetry Jam and Slam is all about performance poetry-studying it, writing it, and performing it. And this is not your typical poetry-it is the exuberant, genre-defying, political, personal, raucous, and powerful punch of the modern performance poetry movement. In this class, through poetry, theater, and musical exercises, students will seek their own poetic voices and the most powerful ways to express them to an audience. Students will explore the history of performance poetry, from the ancient competitions of Greece, to Whitman, to the Beats, and The Last Poets, to the modern forms of slam poetry, performance art, rap, and spoken word. Students will watch performances by the greats and create their own great performances, respecting, but also transcending, the traditional and sometimes stilted boundaries of poetry. The Boston slam talent will come to us, in the form of guest performers, and students will get out of the classroom, discovering the thriving Boston poetry slam scene. The semester will culminate with a Berklee slam poetry event, in which all students participate. This is not about finger-snapping and bongo-playing, so leave your beret at the door! No experience necessary, just enthusiasm!

Credits: 3
Course Chair: Darla Hanley
Prerequisites: LENG-111
Required of: None
Electable by: All